SXSW 2019 Zine

KEEP PRINT

ALIVE

THE REGRETTES

ron gallo + carlie hanson + potty MOUTH + deeper

$20 hearteyesmag.com/issues

the team editor in chief gabi yost creative director jared elliott public relations caleigh wells & ashleigh haddock photography coordinator heather zalabak production jiselle santos & hailey hale social media madi mize editor ava butera copy editor erin christie marketing mallory haynes, mckayla grace, & rachel albright

the contributors photographers

carrine hen, sam rice, ej jolly

graphics

kendall wisniewski

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A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Covering SXSW was a dream come true for us here at Heart Eyes Magazine, and we are so excited to show you the content we collected over the week! A big thank you to all the bands who took the time to chat with us between shows.

The Biker Gang Booking showcase was also a huge success and we hope to see more of you all at next years event!

Best,

gabi yost, editor in chief

We dedicate this issue of Heart Eyes Magazine to Her’s Forever in our hearts

The Heart Eyes Team

photography

Biker Gang Showcase boyscott 8 the grinns 10 hala 12 hot flash heat wave 14

interviews

lunar vacation hala taylor janzen love you later hate drugs hot flash heat wave faze wave

reads

hailey’s top 5 sxsw artists jiselle’s top 5 sxsw artists

sxsw scrapbook

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30 34 42 46 52 56 60

ACL Radio Showcase sontalk 16 bob schneider 17 18 judah and the lion 20 hambree 22 symal 23 robinson 24 dean lewis 26 donna missal 28 x ambassadors

the grinns harbour briston maroney feeves anteros arms akimbo max cronen dayglow

100 101

64 68 74 78 82 88 94 96

boyscott live at the biker gang showcase photos by sam rice

The Grinns live at the biker gang showcase photos by sam rice

H a la

live at the biker gang showcase photos by carrine hen

HOT FLASH HEAT WAVE live at the biker gang showcase |

photos by sam rice

SONTALK

PHOTOS BY EJ JOLLY

Bob Schenider

PHOTOSBY BY PHOTOS JOLLY EJEJ JOLLY

Judah and The Lion Photos by EJ Jolly

Hembree

PHOTOS BY EJ JOLLY

SYMAL photos by ej jolly

Robinson photos by ej jolly

Photos by EJ Jolly

lunar vacation interview by jiselle santos / photos by carrine hen

L

unar Vacation is a five-piece band from Atlanta, Georgia made up of of Grace Repasky, Maggie Geeslin, Matteo De Lurgio, Connor Dowd and John Michael Young. Having just released their EP, Artificial Flavors, we sit down with the band and talk more about the EP, how they met and some of their musical inspirations.

How did you guys meet?

Maggie: Grace and I became friends because we’re in the arts program at our high school.

She wanted to write songs and make music.

She knew John Michael and then we all joined together. Mateo came a year later but we shuffled through some keys players. We all met in high school.

Mateo: Connor, John Michael and I did marching band, drumming together.

Connor: We used to hang out at John Michael’s house, swim, play pool and basketball.

So are you currently in high school?

Grace: Well we were in college but Maggie and I are still taking online classes right now to the make the rents happy. The boys are out and took a semester off. We all took time off to tour and make music. It honestly depends and what happens here at SXSW, if we go back to school. School rocks I guess, but also not really.

So what is the origin of your band name?

Did it sound cool? Is there a meaning behind it?

Grace: I wish there was an interesting meaning behind it but honestly, I put the two words together and thought they sounded cool together. I put it into my notes and when Maggie and I first became friends, we went to this Mac Demarco show in 2015 and we had this other band that wasn’t even a band and it was called Moose Club or something like that.

If we ever needed another name I thought, Lunar Vacation sounded cool.

Maggie: She saved it and we used it later to make songs.

So you guys are touring with SALES, so what do you expect from that tour?

Maggie: So we were talking about our first tour and we were listening to Sales in our van and John Michael goes “Dream tour with Sales!

How sick would that be?!” Then we got the call that they wanted to add us on around last week. One word to describe this would be dreamy, John Michael, do you have something to say?

John Michael: I’ve been in love with them for a little bit. I have seen them twice at the Masquerade (In Atlanta, GA) so definitely it’s super surreal. I think our sound is a good mesh with them. They’re a little bit more laid back but we’re going to be jamming to them. For some other shows, there’s gonna be a band in between us, so we can chill out.

Maggie: Varsity is going. It’s going to be sick!

They’re from Chicago.

John Michael: That’s it. Just making stuff we’re wanting to have happen, happen.

With being from Atlanta, how has the local scene and culture affected how you made music?

Maggie: Our local scene has changed a bunch since we started and didn’t realize there was one so we didn’t try to fit into anything. We discovered upon it. All of our friends that are in bands like Dinner Time and Dimestore, all those people are super sick. At the same time, so many people have been leaving and it’s scarce now.

Grace: Everyone just disappears and goes to college, and it’s really sad.

Maggie: Atlanta is a pretty spread out city anyways, it’s also cool because so many people are coming from other places such Midtown.

There’s also a scene and artists like Faye Webster, who we’ve been listening lots to lately, she’s kind of in the rap scene. Atlanta is super weird.

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John Michael: We definitely got into the scene due to one our friends, Ian, who was in a couple bands before us, now he’s in Dinner Time. I remember in high school I always wanted to play shows but never knew how to do it. Through him and Grace basically really did all the booking, and that has gotten into it.

Grace: I’ve been good at weaving myself in and saying, ‘Hey, have a show?’

John Michael: Yeah exactly!

Grace: You just have to be annoying and email EVERYONE saying you’re a new band, need any local support because we’ll do it and they’re like, “Sick!”. So just be annoying!

John Michael: Our only credentials were our soundcloud demos. We were like, we have a soundcloud, please book us.

So what inspired the EP, Artificial Flavors?

Was it a collective series of events or was there a specific event that inspired it?

Grace: We all collectively wrote it together.

But I wrote the lyrics. We kind of discovered a theme after we wrote it. It was nearing the end of high school. It was like how all of our lives were changing, times were changing. It was the first time we got to make any decisions about anything, it was recounting strang every last-minute, high school things. The past four years, Maggie and I, at least, weren’t like, “I have to go to every high school football game!

Or all these high school things” but at the last few months of high school, we were like, let’s do all of it! So we were recounting how strange it was. It’s called artificial flavors because it’s false, just people can be fake. Situations can be misread. Just analyzing people, I guess. It sounds way more cynical than it is.

Maggie: I was going to say it was a weird transition period for everyone. It’s that time where you kind of lose friends and you’re like what’s going on, where’s everyone going.

Artificial Flavors, we didn’t want it to be sad but we didn’t want to be fake. So the name plays off of that.

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So in a way, kind of a coming of age EP? Do you guys have a coming of age band?

Grace: YES!!! Twin Peaks!!!

I absolutely love them!

Grace: That’s the reason Maggie and I became friends!

But to add on, to talk more on what artists inspired you guys to make music, who would they be for you guys?

Maggie: I would say Neil Young. Obviously Twin Peaks, Whitney, I don’t even know. Every time I get asked this, I think of 70’s rock. Also Ne-Hi. Grace: For me, I got really into Arctic Monkeys and Alex Turner’s songwriting, and that’s what really got me into music. Dude! This man’s a poet. Also Alvvays from Canada, they’re the cutest, because Molly Rankin. Lots of recent people.

John Michael: I’m into lots of electronic stuff, I take lot of from Tycho and Scott Hanson.

I also like Mac Demarco and Tame Impala, they brought me into the whole web of music I listen to, today. I also really like Stereolab, they’ve been around for a little bit, they have really creative stuff with modular sounds and all that good stuff.

Connor: I guess what influenced my drumming the most, I would say John Bonham’s drumming and recently, I’ve been listening to lots more heavier bands like CHON and Animals as Leaders. I love to listen to Temples, Grizzly Bear, just a wide variety, some Atlanta rap and Houston rap too. I’ve got love for lots of genres.

Interview by Jiselle Santos Photos by Carrine Hen Starting his musical project in high school under the name Hala, Ian Ruhala from Detroit, Michigan sits down with me as we chat about his first time at SXSW. Being on NPR’s ‘Music Artists to Watch’ at SXSW 2019, we discuss his music, his influences and a few funny moments that happened to him while here in Austin, TX. Your music can be described as coming of age? It describes your transition in adulthood.

Is there a song that you have that would currently describe you?

Hala: Not so much one song, but so much that it’s representative of ‘coming of age’ stuff. I started this project when I was in high school, and it has grown with me. It’s been my child and it’s like I’ve raised it a bit. From recording in my parent’s basement and recording in my apartments, to recording in houses and every different album or single or any recording is a little different. It definitely an age curious?

Does that make sense? There’s some songs in there that’s like “Oh a 17 year old wrote those” there’s songs that sound like “18.. 19.. Year olds wrote these.”

With writing lyrics or anything, you can see how you grown from a child and you learn to write better. I mean, I hope I write better, I’m a Communications (Comm.) major.

Hala: Oh! I’m a Comm. major too!

Where at?

Hala: At Wayne State in Detroit!

Comm. majors man..

Hala: Gotta love it!

People always make fun of Comm. majors!

Hala: Yeah, they’re always like,”it’s so basic,” but it’s broad and it covers everything.

Yeah! They ask us to edit their photos, captions, ask us to write and edit everything out for them. And they ask - who does this? Comm. majors! Who makes funny ads?

Comm. majors.

Hala: EXACTLY. It’s literally like that. However, marketing is on the other side of Comm. but with math.

Hala: There’s like sex or division of that. It covers so much ground. I feel like they all battle with each other, marketing, Comm. and journalism.

Name a few of your musical inspirations and influenced you through your writing and your music.

Hala: I’m a big Beatles fan and I play left-handed. Paul McCartney plays left-handed too!

Are you left-handed in other aspects of your life?

Hala: I write right-handed but my dad plays guitar too, so every time I picked up his guitar as a kid, my parents would always put it into my hand right handed, and I guess that’s the correct way. Well you can buy more instruments that way, but it’s less rare. However, Paul McCartney has always been an idol of mine in terms of songwriting and look. His fashion, throughout the decades would be someone that always looked good, always sounded good and he’s always covering so much ground in the genres of music. He can write a country song and other types of songs.

Kind of like a style evolution in a way?

Hala: It’s just like inspirational in a way that I don’t want to be held in one corner by genre.

I don’t want to be like “Oh I have to make indie-pop music” or “Oh I got to make lo-fi stuff”.

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Why not do everything?

Hala: I want to dabble into a little bit of everything. I hope it’s at least decent. Growing as a songwriter, you gotta be able to tackle those types of situations where you’re covering ground and different things. Just changing it up a little bt. I like to change it up constantly

ust getting to that door was extremely difficult. Now there’s some many different doors of opportunity and so many ways to get your stuff out there, it’s like when you reach the other side, you’re lost in a sea of creative people.

What would you say with the songs that you do have out now, are you favorites to play Would you say that your end goal would make live? Is there a special meaning to it? Is it just 180 to how you started before? Let’s say your fun? What would be that song? music is indie pop, however, I wouldn’t know Hala: I like to play “Sorry” which is the what the 180 to that would be. relatively new single. It’s fast and how we place Hala: I don’t really know what a 180 would be it in the set but people are like, “Oh we’ve from the indie pop, anybody that’s really makbeen dancing a bit but now we’re ready to cut ing indie pop right now doesn’t know what the loose.” I like that song a lot, it kind of shows 180 is. In a way, it’s kind of a new genre in a the many sides of a live set because we have way that I guess, the oldest and the most insome songs that are middle ground in tempo, fluential people would be Phoenix. They’re an then a little slower and maybe groovy. Then older band but still relatively new. So knowing there’s song that’s pop-like but when we play it what the 180 from that is, I’m not really sure. live there’s a punk influence that we just want to play it fast and loud.

Even within the genre of indie, what would even be considered indie? What makes some- With that song being out, what life experithing aside from the factor of it being indeence inspired “Sorry” to the song it is now? pendent, “indie”?

Hala: I was at college as a freshman and I was Hala: Nothing makes it indie. What has bepartying lots. I was doing kind of some bad come that thing? There was a time where stuff. There was this one night where I was with maybe, that it had some truth to it, where it my friends and partying, we were taking vidwas independent. Now it’s like, anyone can put eos of each other. We were messing around music up on Spotify and post stuff. It’s a whole with the slo-mo on the iPhone. You know? The different world in the industry. iCloud got me. It uploaded to the iCloud, the videos of me and my friends and my mom got all of them.

Exposure nowadays would be considered much “easier” since some artists don’t go Is your iCloud still connected with hers? through what would be considered the traHala: It is. I know you can fix that. At the time, ditional tracks of sending their demos out I had lots of explaining to do, it wasn’t like “Oh to radio stations but hoping to that type of I took a video on an iPhone”, it was so much exposure. But like you said, people can find of the omission that I’ve been doing since high songs off of Soundcloud, with so many plays, school that my parents didn’t know about. much more easily.

They thought I was some goody two shoes Hala: I think it was James Taylor who said it almost. I was afraid to tell them that “I’m sorry, best, as I was watching his behind the music.

I’m like the other kids” but it was an apologetic He says, in the 70s, there was not a lot of doors song towards my mom, really scaring her. of opportunity but once you’re inside of that, you can do anything. You can be as big as James Taylor and Joni Mitchell, like those big songwriters.

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Did she like it?

Hala: Oh yeah she likes it. The song hit one million streams on Spotify the other day *woo*.

I texted her about it and she wrote back one of the lyrics and said “it was almost worth the blame” because the chorus goes “tell my mother that I’m sorry for the blame”. It was cute, and I was happy. However, no song I’ve written was not in the same vein as that. It was kind of an interesting angle to approach it.

I guess I’ve never really heard a song that’s apologetic in the lyrics but upbeat in the instrumentals.

Hala: Nobody would know it if they actually read the lyrics. I guess that’s cool but I’m down for that!

What would say are some cool artists that you have discovered at SXSW, stumbling upon showcases that you have been to - more specifically, have had time to go to?

Hala: Today, I had the chance to see Broncho.

I love Broncho and have for a long time. Then I saw Jerry Paper and we’re playing with Jerry Paper tomorrow, and getting a taste of what to expect. We’ve been doing so many shows and driving so much. I’m exhausted and I don’t know where to go. I’m not here but also there’s a difference of being here as a fan of music and being here as a musicians. You can both still be fans of music but there’s different priorities. It’s so crazy down here but it’s for a reason. It’s so wild. It’s overwhelming, but I’m having lots of fun though. It’s so much because Broncho was playing at The Mohawk and the stage behind it was Jerry Paper. There’s so many sounds that you reach a point where you’re over there hearing from both sets, it feels like your brain is getting ripped in half. You’re hearing so much it’s like a sensory overload.

You’re going through the path that many larger artists have taken to get where they are today by being at SXSW, so where do you see yourself in the next five years with music?

Hala: I want to make music for the rest of my life. There’s no doubt about it. I’m not really here to network in a way but I’m just here to do it. All the people I look up to have done it and SXSW sounds fun and it is fun. In the next five years, I ask everyone, I want to win a grammy. I want to set my standards so high that I want to push myself as much as I can.

Exactly, why should there be a limit?

Hala: I’ve been telling myself this for the longest time when I was at home,”Oh this sounds terrible. I’ll never sound like Tame Impala. My drums will never sound like Tame Impala.” But I’m also like what’s stopping me from doing that? I’m trying to learn to make that happen.

It’s all attainable because someone else has done it.

Also, with growing up in a way there’s always the thought of “what’s stopping you?

My parents aren’t here? I’m gonna do it!”

Hala: No parents! No rules!

What would be your top five artists of all time? If you were making a playlist compiled of artists that you always listen to, who would it be?

Hala: The Beatles, the first Violent Femmes record, Velvet Underground, Twin Peaks, The Stray Cats, and The Trokes Wait… Twin Peaks? I love them!

Hala: Yes, Twin Peaks! I love them. I’ve seen them seven times. I’ve never fangirled harder for a band other than Twin Peaks.

Every single band I had probably interviewed in the last six months have name dropped Twin Peaks. For example, HINDS loves them.

Hala: Today, at the show, Amber from HINDS [the drummer] was here. I was walking to the bathroom, I brushed shoulders with her, and was like,”oh my god!”

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What would your hobbies be outside of music?

Hala:I would say baseball.

It would be old baseball like facts about old baseball players and stuff like that I used to collect baseball cards as a kid. Skateboarding, maybe just a little bit.

Now that everyone is into skateboarding, I’m kind of over it. When I was 12, I was skating lots, I could kickflip a little bit. Jack, who is my bass player, he’s one of the best skaters in Detroit. He shreds harder than anybody, it’s insane watching him skate. I skated for like five years and I’m like “wow, I’m not even a quarter as talented as him”, it’s like why even try. But, I do like to cruise every now and then.

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T AY LO R JA NZ EN

Interview by Jiselle Santos Photos by Carrine Hen I sat down with Taylor Janzen, an up-and-coming artists hailing from Winnipeg, Canada right before she dove into the chaos that SXSW has to offer for many artists like her. With having released “New Mercies” recently, she tells us more about the meaning of that song and where it came from. With talking more about the music scene and what it was like growing up in Winnipeg, we also chat more about some of her favorite artists that what she’s currently listening to.

What’s the meaning of the song “New Mercies” to you?

Taylor Janzen: I wrote the song to sift through weird religious stuff that I grew up with and it’s kind of just me, sorting through it. I find that songwriting for me had been the easiest way to figure out some tough feelings, so that’s what I was kinda doing there. This was also my first song with a full band, so that’s super cool for me. I think the band adds to having this kind of chaotic but still put together feeling to it, so that’s what I wanted to have in there to reflect the lyrics better.

With where you’re from, how would you describe the music scene in Canada growing up and how it influenced your work and how you tend to see things now?

TJ: It definitely influenced me lots. The scene in Winnipeg is really solid. There are lots of great indie bands and everyone is very welcoming and supportive. With living in Winnipeg, not a lot of bands will tour through though. So growing up, when I would see a show of a band that I loved, it was a special occasion.

It was very special, it made live music feel a lot more special because it wasn’t as readily accessible in terms of bands from the states.

Bands that I love that were from other places.

Bands that are local were really accessible. But if I wanted to see one of my favorite bands, I either had to wait til they came to Winnipeg or travel to see them. It made me appreciate live music.

Where would you travel for these artists?

TJ: We would drive to Minneapolis and it was eight hours south. We would drive hours eight hours to see Paramore. I’ve seen paramore there a few times and I would also go to Toronto, or maybe Fargo if there were bands that would go there. I’ve even driven to Saskatoon. Normally, it isn’t better than Winnipeg but was is a band that skipped over Winnipeg, it’s Me Without You, one of my favorite bands.

I drove eight hours to Saskatoon. However, Minneapolis was usually the city we drove too.

People are very dedicated to see band that will never come to Winnipeg.

Like you said, it’s not very common for many of these bands to come through Winnipeg, so I definitely would go to the closest major city, because why not?

TJ: It’s in the middle of nowhere.There’s lots of space between the cities in the midwest part of Canada, it’s definitely a lot of money and sometimes not worth it because of the population for lots of bands [in the cities] to go through.

In terms of song production, what tends to come first for you, is it writing lyrics? And with those lyrics, especially with your recent songs, what has inspired that?

TJ: The thing I love about songwriting is that it’s very different each time. So I would have a conversation with someone and it makes me think about lots of different things. I would go home and I’ll write about it, then it ends up attaching itself to a melody.

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It’s usually how it works for me. I’ll start with the lyrics and write a melody as a I go, or once I get a pattern to the lyrics or rhythm. I’ll usually write after reading. I’ll write after therapy because you’re already in that mindset of talking about your feelings and you can put it in a poetic way. I have found it that I’m unable to write songs in the winter and I live in Canada.

Like with seasonal depression in a way?

TJ: Yeah, I have no inspiration. My brain feels clogged. When it’s nice weather, it sort of helps.

With song writing, who would you love to collaborate in the future?

TJ: I personally don’t co-write a whole lot. I find it difficult but I can co-write on the level of doing my own lyrics and getting someone help me with the music part because that would be really fun. However, I would love to collaborate with someone like Maggie Rogers. She is SOOO cool! Her new album is so incredible, I would love to do something cool with her.

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What’s your favorite song of her new album?

TJ: I would say “The Knife”. That’s the good one!

With experiences of being part of SXSW and also being able to experience what some major artists have gone through while here to get to where they are now, what does it feel like to you as you continue this journey through music?

TJ: It’s really fun! I enjoy lots of aspects of what SXSW is. I love talking to people and meeting new people. It’s really cool to be in a place where there is so much talent and so much talent has come from it. I think it’s awesome!

Especially since you’re in the live music capital of the world! Have you checked out any showcases lately?

TJ: I haven’t yet! But I was at the Canada House showcase and checked out a few bands there.

Are there any artists that you’re hoping to see while you’re here?

TJ: I’m hoping to see Pedro the Lion and they’re doing a show! I would love to catch it if I can. Also, Bleachers is doing a show too! And I love Bleachers!!

Yeah - Bleachers is playing on Saturday! He’s [Jack Antonoff] absolutely amazing and he’s performing at Rachel’s Ray showcase.

TJ: I would love to work with him! That would be insane Are there any artists that do influence your music? Who were the artists that did get you into music, as well?

TJ: I love Brandi Carlile lots. The way that she writes music and the way her voice is. She can let her voice get really soft and pretty but also knows how to really wale, which is awesome.

She’s been a huge inspirations for me, since forever.

She is absolutely incredible and has such a powerful voice.

TJ: She’s amazing! I also listen to this band called Boniface and they’re doing so well right now. I think they’re touring in Europe. They’re one of my favorite bands right now, they have a bleachers vibe and they’re indie pop. Maggie Rogers is what I’m into right now. Also Ruston Kelly, he’s Kacey Musgraves’s husband. He did an EP with Mike Mogus from Bright Eyes and I just worked with Mike Mogus. The first thing I said to Mike Mogus was,”I love Ruston Kelly’s Halloween EP” and I’d say those ones are really great.

She’s quite huge down here in Austin!

TJ: Yes! I think she’s the best. I love that woman. I saw her at Winnipeg Float Fest two years ago and I couldn’t look away. I’m also influenced by Big Thief and their songwriting is incredible. One of my favorite bands is Me Without You , I love his songwriting so much.

You wouldn’t think I would be influenced by them because they’re shouty and loud, and a bit ridiculous but his lyric writing is influential to me as a lyricist and I love their sound ,but I probably couldn’t do it as well.

Who would you say current favorite artists?

If you were to make top five artists list, who would it be?

TJ: Jade Bird, I think she’s the best! I love her music, every song that she comes out with, I am amazed by it. I’m blasting it in my car and screaming a lot to it.

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e

lov

r r e e t t a a l l u u o o yy

Interview by Hailey Hale Photos by Caleigh Wells Girl powered pop has definitely been on the rise the past couple of years, allowing amazing acts like Love You Later to shine. On the first night of SXSW, many people got to see just how dazzling the band is while also being enthralled by the rich vocals and dreamlike sound they create and, even though the band’s set didn’t start until around 1:30 AM, the crowd was still jam-packed and ready to party. Luckily, I got the chance to sit down with lead singer Lexi Aviles and talk about all the things that make her the musician that she is.

Hello! Welcome to SXSW, how are you enjoying Austin and the fest?

Lexi: I love it! I love Austin, this is my second year at SXSW and it’s already better! I think last year was kind of like, getting a feel of everything and so this year is already better. I’ve already met some really cool people and seen some familiar faces which was cool because last year I didn’t know anyone and I feel like Austin is really good at making you feel welcome.

Well that’s good! We try our best!

Lexi: Yeah! So that’s been really cool. I mean we just drove into Austin yesterday - last night - tonight is our first showcase and we have four but, it’ll be fun. We don’t have many shows planned other than the showcases. We’re doing an acoustic session with Nylon so that’ll be cool, we’re especially excited about that!

I mean, there’s no shortage of things to do during SXSW! Lexi: Totally. Other than that we’re just gonna be hanging out and mainly just meeting people and connecting.

Well that leads into my second question. This is your second year at SXSW, obviously like you said before, so do you feel like you’ve got the reins on things or that you know what this is all about?

Lexi: No! You’re just as clueless as the rest of us?

Lexi: Yes! Totally clueless but also I feel like playing last year has helped me realize what I want to accomplish, which in the long run it’s not playing a ton of shows like 500 times a day, it’s mainly just playing a few shows, putting all my energy and creative energy into those.

Also it’s just about meeting people and networking and making those connections. SXSW is just cool because literally everyone from all over the world comes here and loves the same thing, and that’s music. I just think it’s so cool and so I try to look past all the like “how many showcases are you playing?” or like “Well are they official?”

It’s all about quality not quantity right?

Lexi: Yeah, totally. That’s how I feel!

So, speaking of quality and not quantity. You played the Observatory in Orange County!

Lexi: Yes! That’s my hometown, so that was crazy!

Yes! So how did it feel to play such a big venue and see so many faces there just for you?

Lexi: It was very very crazy! I mean I grew up going to that venue like 3-4 times a week since middle school, seeing so many of my inspirations. I saw Glass Animals, The Japanese House, The Neighbourhood, The 1975. I’ve seen literally everyone that I adore there and so it was honestly so insane to be able to play that venue!

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It honestly looked so insane!

Lexi: It was! It was so much fun! The best part is we booked it ourselves so we got to choose the openers and those were some of my favorite bands and some of the people that I genuinely adore.

And you played the same stage, so that’s very cool! So speaking of amazing shows, you just bought your very first van! Will you be playing more shows now that you have it?

Lexi: Well actually, fun fact about the van. Do you know this fact?

I’m pretty sure, but tell it anyway!

Lexi: Ok coo! Well, Heart Eyes is named after Coin right? Well we bought Coin’s old tour van!

That’s so dope!

Lexi: Yeah it’s pretty cool! Joe is a great guy.

We spent multiple hours at the DMV together and had some great QT (quality time) so that was cool. So yeah it runs smoothly but there’s this one little thing though that happens on the road after we break, it makes a weird scratching sound. We haven’t crashed though and we got an oil change so we thought maybe that would work.

Maybe you should get that checked out!

Lexi: Maybe, but to answer your question; Yes, 100% we will play more shows. SXSW is like our first trip in the van but, we’re trying to get an opening slot or something this summer for a tour so that’s kind of the goal. We don’t really want to do a headlining thing just yet so we can plan as much as we can and play in as many cities as we can in 2019.

Yeah that would be great! So, one thing about your shows that sets you apart from everyone else is the aesthetic.

Lexi: Thank you. We love like, glam and I guess putting a twist on it. I’ve always loved being different and standing out, I think that’s very important in my artistry especially. I mean I really love 80’s everything: 80’s movies, 80’s music, 80’s fashion.

Honestly a lot of that is poured into my artistry and I think the whole cowgirl thing came on for the first EP that I released in July and I also think moving to Nashville has kind of spurred it on, like I started saying “y’all” and it just feels right now.

Right? Once you start saying it you can’t stop!

Lexi: Yeah, so coming from California I think my music does sound like you could drive on the Pacific Coast Highway and blast it and roll the windows down but then it’s also like, I play in Nashville and I have to appeal to the crowd and so I’ll be like “yeehaw” and then I’m like, oh this feels good! But also the whole 80’s thing, it just kind of one thing and I think that’s why it’s unique. It’s not like I’m trying to just be this one thing, I just like all these things and I’m doing it!

Yes, and it fits! I looks good and a lot of people like it! Speaking about your set, you’ve got that sparkly backdrop.

Lexi: And the disco ball.

Yes, and the disco ball. But, since you have an affinity for sparkles, I just wanted to know, if you could describe your music as a color of sparkles what would it be?

Lexi: A color of sparkles? Ok, I’d have to go with like, teal-ish.

Teal? Any particular reason?

Lexi: No, actually a sea foam green sparkle. I don’t know why!

Just feeling it?

Lexi: I think that’s what I feel.

I mean sometimes you just gotta feel it right?

Lexi: Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s also the suit I got recently and I just love it! It’s very different too. I think also, pastels are starting to become less of an anime thing and more of just a thing.

Less of like a Hello Kitty vibe.

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So, last question. If you have anything to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine about music, about life, anything, what would it be?

Lexi: I’ll say, mostly to artists just starting out or people just thinking about starting music and feel like they don’t have it all together, that doesn’t matter. If you have a dream go for it! And also especially being a girl and being young, you just can’t let people tell you no and then take it personally and take it as a no.

There are so many opportunities, there’s so many people out there that want to help you and that believe in you, you just have to keep going on until you find those people or those people find you. Mainly you just have to believe in yourself and then people will catch on and people will be like “wow this girl or this guy has passion and really wants to do this for the right reason” and people will catch onto that.

You just have to put out what you want and you’ll get it!

Lexi: Yeah, totally! There’s no certain formula on how to be an artist. Not even for music! I know a lot of creative fields where there’s no set way to do things so, just do you and do it well.

Great life motto! Well, thank you for stopping to talk! Good luck tonight and the rest of this week!

With all the vibrancy and spunk that one person could possibly have, Love You Later is definitely one to watch.

As this is only the beginning for the band, make sure you keep your eye out for new things on the horizon but while you wait be sure to buy and stream all of their music and catch them on any tours that you can because they are definitely worth your time.

Hate Drugs Interview by Hailey Hale | Photos by Carrine Hen If you’ve been keeping up with indie music community for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard of the band Hate Drugs. With their energetic sound and spunky stage presence it’s hard not to love them, so it’s no surprise that when they played The Love Goat on Monday they brought in a large crowd. However, before the band even hit the stage I got to sit and chat about all the things that make up Hate Drugs.

Welcome to Austin! How’s SXSW been so far?

David: It’s been so fun!

John: Yeah, this is day one and it’s been so fun.

Nice! Are y’all playing anything else after this?

David: I think we’re playing four showcases and three other shows outside of Austin this week.

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Oh yeah, y’all are going to Dallas after this right?

John: Yeah we’re playing two shows in Dallas and one in San Antonio.

That’ll be fun! So, you just released your second album Tsunami Soul I, which is amazing by the way, but the theme is red and I was wondering why that color?

David: Red is like, it’s a warmer color than blue and it just encapsulates he aesthetic and the feeling of the album a little bit better,

and the last album was blue so that definitely strongly correlated to the emotion of the album, so it kinda makes sense to go to that color and what we’re doing as a whole aesthetic.

That’s dope! So, you guys are currently on the After Party Tour which is hitting some amazing cities, so I want to know what your dream venue to play in any city is? It can be any venue: a stadium, an amphitheater, a small venue.

David: I really like the idea of playing a really big outdoor arena. Arenas would be cool but outdoor arenas would be cooler.

John: The Hollywood Bowl.

David: Yeah The Hollywood Bowl! I would probably say that because that’s definitely a dream.

So that’s the top of the list?

David: Any big venue or a soccer stadium or a football stadium would be the dream. Just playing anywhere outside is just the dream.

Well y’all are playing outdoors tonight right? So, this is your start!

David: It’s not ideal, but it’ll work! You gotta start somewhere.

That’s right! So, you guys have released CDs before but never actual vinyl records, so are y’all planning on releasing some vinyl and if so what would it look like?

David: Yes we are!

John: It would probably look a lot like the CDs. It just depends on what project we’re making into vinyl. I think we have a lot of ideas for stuff and I’m not sure what we would put on vinyl, but we’d definitely do the first two albums on vinyl.

David: Yeah, we talked about doing the first two albums, and making the color of the vinyl itself the color of the album like doing a blue vinyl and a red vinyl. Maybe even the shape that’s on the album like a square or circle, so just a regular vinyl.

That would be so cool! I definitely think y’all should do that, a lot of people love vinyl and your music, so it’s a good fit.

John: We love vinyl too, but it’s really expensive.

David: We actually got an offer from a local record company, like a local record store, to press our album. The thing is, they went through a switch up of who they use to press their vinyl and stuff like that, and it’s been kind of a weird process and we’ve been super busy so we haven’t followed up on it, but I think it could happen sooner than later.

Yeah, I think that would be dope! So, the band has really good lyrics, like personally I love the lyrics, so I was wondering out of all the lyrics you’ve ever written which is your favorite?

John: I haven’t written any of the lyrics, but my favorite is “I Told Her” off the new album.

David: I was thinking “I Told Her” too.

John: I really like “In Your Eyes” too.

That’s a really good one!

David: It’s not as lyrically complex as some of the others are, but I think emotionally it’s very straightforward, and I tend to write a little more poetically and that song is very straightforward. I think I like that about that song. It was kind of cathartic to write.

Yeah, it’s always good to switch things up!

So, on your Instagram you said you were going to have a busy year this year, so what can we expect from Hate Drugs for the rest of the year?

John: New music.

David: Yeah, we’re writing a lot of new music this year. We’re really excited to get that

album done and get it out, because those songs like, Tsunami Soul I and Tsunami Soul II, that’s a culmination of the last four and a half years, so some of those songs that are on that new album we just released are like three to four years old.

So we’ve been sitting on those songs for a long time, and we’re finally at a point where we have all of our music recorded.

John: That we’ve ever recorded!

David: So now it’s all new from here on out.

In the career of the band - since we started there has never been a point where we had no music, because since the band formed we had already had songs written.

John: Yeah an EP that you wrote!

David: So the band formed around that, so we already had songs, but at this point in the bands journey this is the first point at where we’ve had absolutely no music to work on.

It’s good to have a clean slate sometimes!

John: Yes! We’re so excited!

So with the new music, are you thinking of going in a different direction?

David: Yeah, I think we’re going to play with a lot of different stuff. We’re going to play around with a lot of different sounds and different instruments. We’ve acquired some new equipment over the last year that we haven’t had the chance to play around with, so I would say for sure there’s gonna be some changes in the sound but not in the essence.

John: Also, we’re really pushing for getting on a support tour with a bigger band. That’s kind of a goal of ours for this year, to get on a good support tour. We don’t really want to do another national by ourselves.

David: We’ve done headlining tours the past three out of four tours we’ve done.Who would you want to open for? Who’s your dream person to open for?

John: Dream person? Frank Ocean.

Frank Ocean. If only he toured!

John: I actually heard he’s working on something.

David: I really want to play with this band called Her’s. They’re actually here!

Oh no way! I’ll definitely have to catch them! So, lastly what would you want to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine?

David: I would say if you have any kind of passion for anything, just do it, and if you fashion your life in a way that allows you to pursue passions and your dreams. Really be your own person. A lot of times in life we’re driven to do things that we don’t want or we follow a path that’s been laid out for us, but I think a lot of times the way that we really experience life in the fullest is when we figure out what our calling is or what our passions are and then we pursue that. I’m not saying that necessarily has to be your career, because for a lot of people it won’t be, but regardless if you make money off of it or not you should still do it. If you are into painting or cooking or music or whatever, spend your life doing that because if you don’t you’ll spend your life feeling stupid. Don’t get caught up in trying to impress people, just do things if it makes you feel good.

John: I would say on the topic of music, if there’s a band or multiple band’s that you’re into or you enjoy their music or like them as people; invest in them by buying merch that they have, by listening to their music over and over, or by going to shows, or hanging out with them. Just show support!

Very well said! Well thanks for making time to stop and chat! Good luck tonight!

Hate Drugs has a promising and bright future ahead of them, so be sure to keep up with the band this coming year and every year after.

This band will be going down in history.

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HOT FLASH

HEAT WAVE 56

Interview by Hailey Hale Photos by Carrine Hen Hot Flash Heat Wave has been an ever growing force in the music industry, constantly gaining new fans while also touring and releasing new music in a steady flow.

With that in mind, it wasn’t surprising to see the massive crowd the band had gathered on Friday night at SXSW. With a handful of new songs to perform and some oldies that fans know and love, the energy in the room was palpable when they hit the stage. After their amazing performance, we had the chance to catch up and talk about new music, touring, and everything in between.

So first off, welcome back to Texas. I know this isn’t your fist SXSW, so do you feel like you finally understand all the craziness?

Adam Abildgaard: I think we’re kind of understanding it a lot, because we used to try and play as many shows as possible- exhaust ourselves- but now, we’re trying to play as few shows as possible and make each one count. I think we’re gonna play, if we come back, even less shows next year and make them count even more. Yeah, it’s crazy but it’s exciting and it drains you.

Ted Davis: It is disorienting.

HEM: Yeah, I don’t even know what day it is so I don’t know how y’all are doing all this.

AA: The hardest thing to do at SXSW is to sleep and to eat food. The easiest thing is to get fucked up and play music and talk to people, so being healthy is very hard.

Ok so, y’all have been doing a lot of touring this past year, what are some things that keep you sane while on the road?

AA: Some of us have been watching T.V. shows a lot in the car - Nick and me a little bit - Jared plays video games.

Nick Duffy: Jared’s been recording too!

AA: We’ve been getting GarageBand on our phones and recording. It’s fun when you can do little things that kinda take you out of being stuck in the van. I think, in my mind, that’s the worst part: being in the van for like 6-7 hours a day. You’re just trapped.

TD: We want to find some productive thing to do while spending so much time in the car.

I brought a camera this tour, and I’ve been doing some artwork in the car and a little bit of recording. Also, video games have been fun to play in the van! It’s just a lot of driving: that’s what a lot of people don’t know about touring, just how much driving there is.

ND: Tour, as I like to say, is 90% driving and 10% performing, and that’s not even joking! I mean it is, but it’s not.

I can’t even imagine hitting all those states in such a short amount of time!

TD: This tour we’ve had to drive 7 hours for multiple days in a row, so basically when we left New York City, we drove 3 hours after our gig towards Richmond, and we were still 2 hours late to our gig the next day after getting 5 hours of sleep.

AA: Our opening band missed the show because they were too late.

TD: That stretch of the I-95 has the most traffic in the country.

Well then, I’m glad y’all have things to keep your mind off of that! So, here at SXSW there’s obviously no shortage of music, but I want to know what your favorite thing about SXSW is that’s not music related.

ND: Sleeping?

TD: Is seeing other humans that are musicians a good answer?

Yes! TD: I love just hanging out with the other bands. I feel like the first time we were here, I was struck by how many of our peers were out here.

AA: It’s kind of like a family reunion, and we see so many people that we haven’t seen in a while, so it’s like wow, we can finally just be in the same place. It’s like a holiday almost.

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That’s dope! So, with this new EP, I wouldn’t say the music has changed, but it’s definitely taking a slight turn sonically, so should we expect a shift in sound in the near future?

AA: I think honestly, we just do whatever feels right and this felt right for us. We’re probably not going to make music that sounds like Neopolitan. I mean in way, I feel like “Hesitation” from Neopolitan is a track that is still relevant to what we’re into these days. I think we’re into a very jangly, cerebral vibe which we’re finally doing all the way. I feel like some of our records have tinges of that and now we’re really doing it, but in the end, it’s hard to say what

we’re going to do.

TD: I think our influences are always changing, it’s just part of being an artist and a person: to change.

ND: I feel like that makes it exciting, because ultimately, what you’re writing and making reflects on where you’re at as a person and that shit changes all the time. Especially with the climate of what’s going on in the outer world.

So, just with those inputs ,obviously things are going to change. Ultimately I feel like the shit we’re doing right now is way more fun.

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We’re way more excited, and it feels more fun and dancy and groovy and we’re moving our hips a little more. Clenching our glutes!

AA: It’s mostly we’re trying to get a workout.

We’re trying to get a fitness sponsorship from 24 Hour Fitness, so if you’re listening to this, we’re ready. We’re vaguely fit, mostly not.

So, one thing that I love about the band is everything has a sort of cohesive aesthetic.

What would you call that aesthetic?

TD: Sportswear.

AA: Sportswear 2019.

ND: No, Sportswear 2021!

TD: But it comes out 2019. The new brand comes out 2019, but it’s based off 2021.

ND: It’s kind of 1930’s, Great Depression sportswear.

So, speaking of aesthetic, if you could release a clothing line with only 3 essential pieces what would they be?

TD: Obviously, a long sleeve item would be very sick.

ND: A long sleeve, a tour tee, and a black hoodie.

HEM: Isn’t that your merch right now?

AA: Yes.

So, I know y’all just released the new EP Mood Ring, but is there anything else we should look out for in 2019?

TD: Yeah, we’re gonna have some new music.

Hopefully, a new EP soon, we’re just trying to pump it out because we have so many songs, and we can’t stop writing otherwise we go crazy.

ND: I love music! Music is nice! Get that on the record.

It’ll definitely be on there! Ok last question, if you could pitch your band in one sentence, what would it be?

AA: I’d say our music, what it is and what it will be, is cerebral post punk, psychedelic dream rock.

HEM: Ok, good sentence!

AA: It’s a lot of words, but when you think about it all, it’ll melt together. It’s melted pop, that’s what we say. We melt it all together, pop it in a ‘sicle, and enjoy it.

Sounds good! Well, thank you guys!

With the promise of music that is constantly changing, and lots of interesting projects to come, I think it’s safe to say that Hot Flash Heat Wave is a band that you don’t want to miss out on.

FAZE WAVE

Interview by Hailey Hale Photos by Caleigh Wells Hot Flash Heat Wave has been an ever growing force in the music industry, constantly gaining new fans while also touring and releasing new music in a steady flow.

With that in mind, it wasn’t surprising to see the massive crowd the band had gathered on Friday night at SXSW. With a handful of new songs to perform and some oldies that fans know and love, the energy in the room was palpable when they hit the stage. After their amazing performance, we had the chance to catch up and talk about new music, touring, and everything in between.

Ok, Welcome to Austin! How are you enjoying SXSW so far?

Matthew Flynn: So awesome!

Hunter Hileman: It’s fantastic!

That’s wonderful! So, you guys have been teasing new music. Can you tell me anything about it? Is it a new album? A new sound?

Hunter: Well, there are actually two EP’s that are just getting wrapped up. The first one we recorded in Atlanta and it’s still probably in the Faze Wave tradition for sure, definitely fits the discography. Then there’s a second EP, and they’re gonna be related somehow - the names - and I actually produced the second one, and it’s technically a collaboration with my solo project and Faze Wave, but that one’s definitely a pretty big turn.

Holden Hackney: What’s your solo project called?

HEM: Yeah, a solo project?

Hunter: Groove Inn. It’s a Groove Inn x Faze Wave collaboration.

Oh nice! So, y’all have been posting about a music video. How did that come about, and what’s the theme? What’s it about?

Matthew: So, our friends, Lunar Vacation, did a video with this girl Rachel [Rios Rehm], who we reached out to because we saw their video and it was really good. Then, I hit her up and we were like “alright well, wanted to know if you’re interested” and we were able to work something out. So, Rachel and Joe and I were on the phone and they told me about some stuff they had [in mind] and it’s pretty crazy.

I really don’t want to say it yet, because it’s a surprise but, it’s really cool. We had a big crew: Austin and Kurt and Rachel and Joe. They’re just such great people and they worked really hard on it. They pretty much just told us what to do and we did it.

Hunter: Seriously, such an amazing team. It was a lot of fun!

The pictures y’all have been posting look really cool!

Matthew: Yeah, all our instruments are still bedazzled. But yeah, it has to do with a nursing home essentially.

Oh, that’s dope! So, with new music and new music videos, a tour usually follows.

If you were to go on a new tour this year, what are the top 3 cities y’all would want to hit?

Matthew: LA, Seattle, and Portland.

Are those the 3 for everyone?

Holden: I mean, everybody’s probably got a different idea.

Matthew: Our main thing is we really want to hit the West Coast. That’s a huge goal of ours.

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Alright! So, your music is very chill, and very poetic, and I just want to know how did that sound come about? Was there someone who inspired you or did you one day just start playing that sound?

Hunter: We were literally just having a conversation about this!

HEM: Really?

Holden: Yeah, I guess we were just ready.

Matthew: Should I just spew out what I said earlier?

HEM: Yes, please do!

Matthew: So, I guess the stuff I really got into when I was in Sophomore year, I was very dedicated towards- [which was] I don’t know, girls, kind of? Which sounds cheesy but I really was.

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That was around Sophomore year in high school and so, around that age, it was a lot of being awkward and weird and growing up. So, that’s what I kind of immediately related to. I think that’s because I’ve always wanted to be honest and weird, not weird, but so honest that it’s kind of like “oh shit,” you know? And I guess I’m 22 now so, the music I’ve written has been between like 15 and 22 and most of the stuff that’s happened since then [has inspired me to write about] just growing up and girls in my life.

So I don’t know if that’s poetic or not but I guess that’s just the way it came out.

Holden: When you said “girls” I thought you meant The 1975 song!

So, if you guys could describe the music in one word, how would you describe it?

Holden: Only one word?

HEM: Yep! Only one!

Holden: That’s not fair!

HEM: I know! I ask unfair questions. You can have one word each if that makes it easier.

Matthew: Shitty! Just kidding, Holden, you go first.

Holden: I’m going to say “energetic.”

Hunter: “Dreamy.”

Matthew: Well, I don’t want to come off like I prepared this so, I’d say, like, “honest” is the word because it is but, it’s kind of like “straight up” if that makes sense?

Straight up? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!

So, lastly if there is anything you guys would like to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine about your music or anything in general, what would it be?

Matthew: Let’s just all add something.

Hunter: I would say, just from my perspective, I think the music, especially shows and stuff, it’s all just about having fun and having a good time. I mean, that’s expressly the lyrics-- it’s honest from his perspective and there’s a lot of experience-- but, I would say, especially with the shows and the music, it’s all about having fun.

Matthew: I would say, I’ve gotten a lot of cool messages from people over the course of our [band’s existence] and, I’ve kind of gotten quite a few recently like people saying how much a song meant to them or how they found us and I really appreciate that. I would say I want people to know that if they listen to our music and they come across this interview- no matter how our music sound, like it might change you know every band changes- we will always write stuff that is specifically for us but it’s as honest as it can be and we’ll never change that. Like I don’t research people trying to shit talk us but, whatever you may think, whenever you hear our music, it’s as honest as possible.

Hunter: Watch out Faze Wave is coming for you!

HEM: Well, thank you guys for stopping to chat for a little bit! Hope you guys kill it tonight!

With so much to look out for this year, Faze Wave continues to be a consistently rising force in the music industry and should not be overlooked, especially in their early stages. The band is as honest as they come and their music not only reflects that, but amplifies it in a way that has you itching to listen over and over.

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the grinns

Interview by Hailey Hale Photos by Sam Rice Friday was a huge night for the Heart Eyes team as it was our very own showcase with Biker Gang Booking. One of the first and most anticipated bands for the night was The Grinns, whose music is soothing, yet upbeat. After their energetic performance, we got the chance to sit down with the band and talk about new music, tour, and much more.

So, welcome to Texas! How are you enjoying your experience at SXSW? Joey Kolk: It’s very SXSW. Jackson Jarrett: It’s not what I expected.

HEM: So it’s better?

JJ: Definitely! Personally, I don’t like to set expectations, I don’t like to be let down.

I feel! So, this is the kickoff for the West Coast tour that you guys are about to embark on, so how are y’all feeling and what shows are you most excited to play?

Ramtin Khoee: We’re very excited for the tour!

Some of the shows that we’re most excited about are the kind of shows like today, where we play in states we haven’t been in, because we like to meet new people.

JK: We like to travel.

RK: It’s always different, you just do not expect it. You can’t expect it.

Yeah, different people, different crowd. So, your music to me is very chill and beachy and it kind of puts you in that island mindset I think, so if you could describe your music as a tropical place, what place would it be?

JK: You mean, a real place?

HEM: It can be any place! An imaginary place, or a real place.

JK: Ok, so I’m in Minecraft and I’m trying to build my island, so I would say..

RK: That’s a tough question!

JJ: I would say it’s a society within the forest.

There’s a forest- a beautiful forest with resources that you have to go out and gather- but we’re sophisticated in the way that we have houses within the trees, but we don’t destroy the land.

JJ: Like Ewoks!

HEM: So, not a tropical place, a different planet?

JK: No, it is tropical! It would be a forest on the island.

HEM: Yeah those exist I think!

JK: I have no clue.

So, you guys have done a lot of support tours and now get to do your very own headlining tour, so what are you most excited about now that you guys are the main band?

JK: We don’t like to have big heads. We like to stay humble about it and modest, so we’re just stoked to be young and be able to travel.

JJ: I’d say I’m just happy that - I just think about how we were playing on the stage of our high school, and going from there to this - I’m just happy with that. That’s it, so anything’s a bonus at this point.

RK: I disagree with everything you just said.

Just kidding!

HEM: I’m putting that on the record!

JJ: He was there, we were all in the same history class, but we don’t need to get into that.

We’ll stay out of that then! So, speaking of headlining, back in January y’all headlined The Roxy which is huge! I just wanted to know how it felt to play that huge room and see all those faces there for you?

JK: It’s really awesome to see, especially in our hometown area, a ton of people and a wall of sound echoing back my own lyrics.

JJ: Over time, it’s more and more.

JK: Everytime, it gets bigger and bigger, and it’s so special.

RK: They know the lyrics better than I do!

JK: We love The Roxy, it’s a great venue. Legendary!

HEM: And y’all played it!

JK: To be able to have that experience was awesome.

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Ok! I know y’all just put out an album last year and will be doing a lot of touring, but what can we expect from The Grinns in the coming year?

RK: Hopefully more shows, hopefully more music. 4/20 is a date to look out for, legally we can’t say anything.

JK: LTDG. Okay! Last question, if you could somehow predict the future, where would you say The Grinns would be 5 years from now?

JK: I would say 2024.

HEM: I mean true!

RK: 5 years? That’s so difficult.

HEM: Where do you want to be?

RK: Well that’s a different question.

JJ: We’ll do a little bit of both: where we see ourselves realistically and where we hope to be. I would like to not have to work, other than music. That seems like a pretty fair deal in 5 years. I’ll probably be really pissed if that’s not the reality.

RK: Okay we’re gonna go with that. I’d say hopefully, I wanna get - and this is what I want- I want to take some of our money, buy a house- a big house in the Midwest- and we all just fly out there and just hang out for a month or two and just write. Then we can just go and do our own thing and live wherever we want to live. I hope that happens.

JK: Tahiti!

RK: That’s not the Midwest! I mean it could be the Midwest of wherever Tahiti is.

JJ: It’s the Midwest of something that’s East.

JK: In five years, where I would like to see us is back here again.

HEM: Well, we would love you to have you back here in five years!

JJ: Probably sooner.

JK: Yeah, it’ll be sooner than that, but still in five years.

RK: That’s really it, Joey?

JK: Yeah!

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JJ: I want to do whatever we’re doing, obviously, in five years I want it to look like one of those graphs that keeps going up. Whatever it is at that point, I’m down with as long as we just always express our music, and we’re producing it and recording it on the farm or whatever. We all have our own interests. We all want to do our own solo stuff too, but not really commercially- just enough to be like “oh there’s Jackson’s stuff, there’s Ramtin’s stuff too.” You know, The Grinns are the main thing but in five years, I hope we can have enough time to do some solo stuff on the side.

RK: Here’s an answer I want to adjust: I like making music and I like making music with the people in this band. There are a lot of roadblocks in life that make it more difficult to do that, like all the aspects of life that just take your time and stress you out. I hope in five years, there’s a lot less of that, and we can just focus on making music. Like, all we have to do is really just express ourselves.

JK: In five years, won’t the next election be happening?

Jackson: The Olympics in L.A.!

JK: Actually I change my answer. I want to see myself at The Olympics.

HEM: What would you want to do at The Olympics?

JK: Just be there.

RK: I’m gonna do speed walking.

HEM: Is that a thing?

RK: Yeah, they’re adding it.

JK: We’ll make it a thing.

HEM: On that note, thank you guys for making time to chat with me! Your set was amazing!

JK: Thank you!

After their spectacular set, accompanied by a long-winded and cryptic talk about all of the things that are to come in the near future,it’s clear that audiences should definitely want to watch out for The Grinns and what is in store for them.

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It’s not an easy thing to reinvent yourselves, especially when you’re adding new people into the mix, but that’s exactly what Harbour has done. The band has become an entirely different entity than what it started out- with almost an entirely new cast to boot- but all of the change has been for the better and this was proven on Friday night. After their extremely energetic and entertaining set, we got to sit and talk with the members about change and what they want from their music in the future.

Hello! That was an amazing set! How are you feeling about it?

Ryan Sulken: Energy, energy, energy! That was insane, like all of our friends from all the local bands/touring bands that we know were there!

Ryan Green: It was incredible because they all came out to watch us and support us! They just went in, so we went in!

Marshall Sallee: The energy was really infectious.

HEM: Awesome, did it meet your SXSW expectation?

Ryan S: Absolutely! It passed it!

Matt Starcher: All of the shows we’ve played have met our expectations.

Levi: Snyder: All of them!

Ryan S: Honestly though, we didn’t come here with any expectations. You never know.

Levi: Yeah, this is our first time down here so we didn’t know what to expect.

Well, I hope y’all come back now that you know! So, you’ve been in town for a little while and you’ve also come down for shows, so you’ve had enough time to explore the city. I was wondering, what is your favorite part about coming to Austin?

Ryan G: BBQ. Marshall: Big Bang!

Ryan S: Oh, the karaoke bar!

Marshall: We tore that place up!

Ryan S: He’s right. That was the most incredible experience. We tore it up!

Levi: I don’t really know how it is when it’s not SXSW, but it’s pretty crazy here.

Ryan S: We came here one time before this and we kind of just chilled and played a show then left. Like we didn’t have a big opportunity to explore, so we went and explored this time and it really is a fantastic city!

Ryan G: SXSW is really the embodiment of music in Austin. This is the time you would want to come to Austin, especially being a musician, so it’s just the whole SXSW - shut down both streets, free music - it’s amazing.

Ryan S: Straight up free!

Matt: It’s good for the music industry in general. I’ve met so many incredible bands on this run, people we’ve never met before.

HEM: And it’s great for marketing! Have y’all been doing a lot of that?

Ryan S: I mean, kind of!

Marshall: Honestly, we’ve been focused on meeting people and making connections. Like connecting with fans and figuring out who we want to tour with the rest of this year and starting next year.

Matt: And trying to let our music speak for itself too. If we go out and kill it, it’s less than trying to push to someone what we sound like or what our shows are like, so if we just kill it on the stage and leave it there, they know what to expect.

Of course! Well, on your Instagram you said “2019 is going to be a killer year” so can you give me any hints about what’s going to happen and make this year so great?

Marshall: We’re just going to play all The Killers songs all of 2019.

HEM: Are y’all going to be a Killers cover band?

Ryan S: Absolutely! So, this is actually an interesting year, because last year and the year before, we were kind of reworking Harbour as a band. It’s kind of crazy because we want to tour and we want to make this a career.

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A few people who had been in Harbour from the get go, they kind of just let it go and moved on with their life so Ryan, he’s actually the only original member. I want to make this happen, so we just got a bunch of guys together who are willing to make it happen and this year, we’re writing our first album together.

[This is] the first album that Harbour has ever produced in over two years, and it’s just got a whole bunch of different musical influences now. It’s not like one primary writer, we’re all writing together and it’s becoming - I think the best Harbour music that has been put out, but I can’t really say that.

Ryan G: I agree, but we’re also hitting the road this year for the first time. We’ve toured a very small amount starting at the end of 2018 and that was part of the regroup- just getting guys that could get out and actually take a shot at this.

Ryan S: Because we have a whole bunch of people across the nation who listen to us all the time but have never seen us live, for four years! So we gotta go! It’s go time!

Marshall: Also, that didn’t all just happen in 2018. We’ve all been reworking for a while, so I think we’re finally at a point where we can hit the road. We’re all super committed.

Ryan S: We’ve finally got a group that’s ready for it.

HEM: So this is Harbour.

Ryan G: Absolutely.

HEM: Well, I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Ryan G: New music this summer! The album is coming out. That’s another big thing, we’ve got the album, and we’re literally flying out to Nashville in two days to start recording.

Awesome! So, speaking of things that are killer, your Spotify wrap up amassed three million streams. How do you wrap your head around that?

Marshall: I can’t. Like we’ve never toured, so it’s like how?

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Ryan G: How are all these people here? It really goes to show that our music is what’s driving it. It’s not as much our social media - it’s much much lower than our Spotify- so we’re trying to amp that up, but it goes to show that people really dig our actual sound as opposed to our image or our aesthetic or any gimmicks.

It’s really just about the music. That’s why I’m surprised but I’m proud of it.

Definitely something to be proud of. So, on the topic of last year, y’all were very busy regrouping, doing a little bit of touring. So trying to stay on the positive side of things, what has been your favorite part of rebranding and starting to hit the road as basically a new team?

Ryan S: It’s a fresh new start. You pretty much said it, it’s brand new to us. This guy (Matt) is 20-years-old and going across the nation!

That’s so cool, I wish I could’ve done that when I was 20, so I don’t know. It’s really just excitement about something new, something fresh to look forward to. A new sound, a new lineup.

Matt: It’s so exciting for me because I’ve been a fan of this band for years now, and now I’m actually joining and I’m joining right at the perfect time where I’m on the same page as them and I’m ready to hit it as much as they are. It’s really been the perfect storm of coming together with you guys, and putting together a team that we’re really proud of.

Marshall: That’s the young goat over there.

That’s what I call him, the greatest of all time.

Well I’m glad that things are looking good!

So, y’all have played some festivals, including this one so do y’all prefer clubs or festivals?

Ryan G: Clubs.

Ryan S: I personally do too. It’s more intimate, not like “hey, there’s a 15 foot barrier between us,” or a huge stage where everyone’s just looking up at me.

Marshall: We haven’t had a killer spot on a festival, so it’s hard to say.

Ryan S: We played a festival where it was just five people in an entire soccer field.

HEM: You gotta start somewhere right?

Matt: Yeah, we haven’t gotten a taste for the fest vibe yet.

HEM: I mean SXSW is huge festival to get slotted at! Tons of people would kill for this.

Ryan S: True, but it’s still pretty intimate.

HEM: Yeah, it’s still clubs. One day y’all will get your killer festival slot!

Ryan G: Some of my favorite shows, like in Salt Lake City, have been in super small rooms where the crowd is coming up onto the stage.

It’s only thirty people in a tiny room, but that’s been one of my favorite shows we’ve played just because of that energy.

Yeah! So, since the growth of Harbour has been tremendous this past year, what is your biggest goal to accomplish by the end of this year?

Levi: Climb that ladder!

Ryan G: This is not anything new, but we’re trying to get on a bigger booking agency. That’s just the facts, we have a good company right now, we’ve been with them for a while and we love them but that’s why we’re out here. We’re trying to meet people you know? This is Biker Gang Booking agency, we’re trying to make moves and we’re trying be on the road all the time.

Ryan S: More music, better shows, more shows, more cities.

HEM: So, the main goal is to continue growing?

Ryan G: Absolutely.

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All right, last question. I just wanted to know if you had anything to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine?

Ryan S: I’d say, thank you so much for the support so far and keep an eye out because we are gonna basically go off. Just keep on watching, and please enjoy and keep on supporting us. We love you guys.

Ryan G: Sit tight.

Levi: New album on the way!

HEM: I’ll put that in bold: New album on the way.

Marshall: You heard it hear first!

HEM: Exactly! Well thank you guys so much and once again, amazing job tonight!

As they said, this is only the beginning for Harbour following their rebirth. An album and lots of upcoming tour dates are on the way, so take the bands advice and continue supporting them until then. It will 100% be worth it!

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M N A O R T O S N I EY

Interview by Jiselle Santos Photos by Carrine Hen We got to chat with Briston Maroney from Nashville, TN before the official SXSW events started, and most importantly before the chaos of multiple showcases throughout the week hit. We got to talk about his experiences on American Idol, venues that he’ll play on tour and what to expect at SXSW. Since it’s your first time at SXSW - what do you expect to experience, see, etc?

Briston Maroney: We have some unofficial stuff going on, then uppity stuff so we will see both ends of the spectrum in terms of unofficial and official SXSW events. We are definitely expecting to get pretty crazy.

Are you expecting to see any other artists that you know here at SXSW? Literally, the first person we saw was Lexi (Love You Later) and one of the only people we know from home. But we bumped into three or four people we know already. Everyone here has been super friendly, met two or three other bands, it’s really weird.

HEM: Keep Austin Weird? Am I right?

For sure.

How has being on American Idol affected how you see the music industry versus rebranding and starting up again? Consider this, they were two different journeys, so describe that to us.

American Idol more than anything at this point had been an experience. It was just a couple weeks I didn’t spend time in school, like most kids did. It definitely was a view of what I didn’t want to be part of early on in life, which is cool. Lots of people don’t get to do that. I’ve been in a place where I saw two extremes of it, super-DIY like doing this because you f*cking love it or the other side where it’s so commercial and so slick. I definitely got to apply that to my life now.

So with rebranding, how did you go about that?

Basically, I got rid of the logo that had the Tennessee Tri-star in it. That was a f*cking good start. I don’t know. I just let things happen more naturally. It’s very typical “American Idol Kid Goes Indie”. It definitely pushed me to the extreme where I don’t want to hang with the commercial clean-cut ‘American Idol’ people anymore. So I started hanging out with different kids, and started listening to the opposite of that, and drew influences from that musically.

So what are your favorite music venues? I guess venues that you’re going to perform at and you wish to perform at as well!

I’m really stoked to play the Echo in May, which is in LA. Have you been there?

HEM: Nope, but I heard amazing things about that venue from friends that live in that area.

We’re also getting to play The O2 in Birmingham. It’s freaking insane!

Everytime I think of The O2, I think of The 1975 and their live album.

Dude! I know! It’s insane. I’m not sure if we’re playing the large room, I’m sure we’re playing the much smaller room.

HEM: I mean… you can claim that you’re playing The O2, not a lot of people can say that.

I mean I did just say that as it’s happening! But with the a favorite venue we’ve played so far, I would say the Mercy Lounge in Nashville. It was the biggest - yet larger sold out show. We opened for Arlie there, and it was very good show!

HEM: Love Arlie! Such a good band!

Such good guys! Shoutout to them.

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Can you tell us more about the Nashville venues for those who aren’t as familiar with it?

Bridgestone is for the big bands, for arena size!

Cannery Ballroom is a pretty big one as well, that’s where many bands like Hippo Campus or big indie bands will go to. Basement East is cool, that was a pretty cool place we played as well.

You’re going to Europe soon, and you’re actually going on tour with Wallows!

Oh yeah! I’m ready! Saw the name ‘Wallows’ on your phone and got excited. And they’re the nicest dudes - I have yet to meet Dylan, but I met the others and they were amazing. They’re confident in their music. They’re been a band for so long, they’ve been playing since they were kids. I really REALLY love their stuff lots.

HEM: Especially their new stuff!

Oh their new record, is AMAZING! They f*cking love music and it’s really cool.

HEM: They have really good taste in music too. They covered The Cure.

Yup! So good, that’s one my favorite bands.

What’s your favorite song to perform live?

Does it change each time you perform?

Whatever is the most new. We write lots of stuff very quickly. So it’s really, what’s new is going to be our favorite.

HEM: What would you say had inspired the songs?

Listening to Wallows. *everyone laughs* But it would be emulating lots of stuff I listen to. Just trying to hopefully someday, touch on the bands that I dig. Life experiences and things like that do inspire.

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You released songs in November, however, with the new stuff coming out, how would you compare the new stuff to your stuff in November?

It’s pretty different. But we worked with the same producer. We went to this farmhouse studio in Kentucky and got real dirty. It was really fun. It was, I wouldn’t say acoustic-driven, just more alternative and maybe even country at certain points. It was the indie flare that I guess, everyone has been talking about.

I see where you’re going. But more people have been dipping into folk-music as well.

Yes, there’s some folk influence. I mean, I was so stoked when the Phoebe Bridgers album came out. So I was trying to do what she was doing with what we were doing before. Just like right in the middle.

Do you have current songs that you’re obsessed with right now?

My friend ShaneT, has a song called “Wasting Time” and it’s pretty cool. He’s from Nashville too! He’s like a stretched out version of me, like 6’3 and lot more physically more as me. I’m forever obsessed with Big Thief and they’re one of my favorite bands. Also Buck Meek, the guy from Big Thief, his solo record is amazing. He has a song called “Joe by the Book” and it’s my favorite song by him.

FEEVES

If you’re looking for a band whose music makes you want to get up and dance while also making you get in your feels, you definitely want to check out Texan band Feeves. Their music is upbeat, funky, and allaround fun so it’s only fitting that their live show reflects all of those things and more. Luckily, I got the chance to talk to them before their set Monday night to catch up on all things music, touring, and more.

Interview by Hailey Hale | Portraits by Jiselle Santos 78

Hello, welcome to SXSW! How are you liking it so far?

Nick: It’s awesome! There’s a lot of people Oh yeah and this is just the beginning of it! So, y’all have been touring a lot these past couple of months and I’m assuming it hasn’t been easy to write music but, y’all have released new songs regardless so, what is the writing/recording process like on the road?

Esty: It’s a big grand illusion. All last year we didn’t do anything.

We spent an entire year writing and recording. Literally doing nothing and people were like “oh where’s Feeves?”. So we did that and we recorded 15 songs and this year we’re putting them all out.

HEM: Well that’s smart!

Esty: That way, around summer and Christmas this year we can start again and get ready for a new one next year.

So, speaking of writing, your lyrics are very personal. Was it hard to get to that place where you could put yourself out there and know people are going to listen to how you’re feeling?

Esty: Yeah, funny story about that actually. When we first started we were in a pop band - sugar pop - and it was really bubblegum and cheesy.

Nick: Really shallow.

Esty: Yeah, really shallow. I was coming off of another band and was really trying to distance myself from that and one day when we were on Twitter, some random Twenty One Pilots superfan followed us, and she just messaged us and was like, “Hi. I like your music!” and I was like cool thank you.

Then she said “I have one critique though” and at that moment I was like whaaat? Like it came out of nowhere, but she said - and I had been thinking about it a little bit before - “your music is good but, I don’t believe it” and I was like, oh my God! I had been playing with that in my head lately, and we were at a time where a couple labels were interested in us and we had some management that was basically just telling us what to do, and I really wanted to be a person that was more real and when she said that it really gut checked me. We’ve been through so much when it comes to things like, labels and management. So many people telling us what to do and what’s going to be successful, and I’ve kind of hit that point where I’m like, I don’t really care about any of it it I’m not being honest, and I don’t really care about any of it if the listener doesn’t care. So, that was really just I was going through a lot, I started questioning, I had this deep seated faith that I kind of just started walking away from and changing. It was all just really scary stuff, so when I started writing these songs that’s exactly what it was about, this dealing with anxiety, dealing with all this stuff that was actually going on in my life. It was the most fulfilling feeling, I don’t think I could ever not write that way.

HEM: Well music helps a lot of people, especially musicians so that’s great to hear.

Rolly: There was some people who told us recently that they listened through the The American and it actually helped them through stuff.

That’s amazing! So, you guys are from Texas, and are pretty well known in Texas so, if you could play any venue in Texas, which would it be?

Rolly: I would say Red Rocks.

Just kidding.

HEM: Ok, I was like wait a minute. I’m bad at geography but not that bad.

Nick: Austin City Limits would be sick! I would love that.

HEM: Oh the festival? That would be amazing!

Nick: Well it’s also a TV show too.

HEM: Yeah, the tapings! That would be so cool!

Esty: To stay more local in Dallas, probably The Kessler, it’s such a rad venue. Or actually, The Bomb Factory would be great.

Rolly: The Granada?

Nick: Oh I want to play Granada so bad!

Rolly: I would do either The Bomb Factory or The House of Blues.

Nick: The thing about us though, we just want people to be there. Like it doesn’t matter the size of the venue.

HEM: People have been there though! It’s so cool watching y’alls growth and seeing everything progress!

Rolly: It’s been kind of crazy because, all last year nobody cared because we didn’t do anything. We would tweet random things and people would be like, oh cool whatever. Then once American Dream happened people were like, oh I guess you are serious about what you do.

People really caught on and it’s been really nice.

HEM: Yeah, love the change!

It’s been so amazing!

Rolly: Thank you! The next ones are going to be better!

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Well you always want everything to beat the last thing you put out right?

Esty: The interesting thing is that, the songs that are coming out now are older than the songs we did before. So, the song the songs that just came out were newer than the songs we’re about to start releasing because, the songs we’re about to start releasing are the songs that we love so much that we needed to put some other music out first.

HEM: You wanted to save the best for last?

Esty: Well we just wanted to switch. It was going from like, “I feel so casual” to like..

HEM: I hate my life and that stuff.

Nick: Take it all man!

Esty: “I was driving a green Mercedes back before the year my mind went crazy” it’s a lot different than our old stuff. It’s a very different feeling.

Well it’s good to have a change! So now I’m gonna ask you a fun one! If you could describe the tone of your music in a location like, mountains, seas, forests, what would it be?

Rolly: Inside someone’s head.

HEM: I mean that is a location.

Esty: Just like wherever though. As far as place, never mind I’ve gotta think about it.

Nick: I’d say a whimsical alley.

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HEM: We’ve got many of those here.

Nick: Just a place where you’re happy and scared at the same time.

Esty: It’s scary but it’s also kind of dope. We’re all kind of weird about stuff like that.

Nick: We’re the most happy sad dudes!

Esty: We’re the happiest sad boys.

Rolly: I would say, at a pool table in a bar because, at a pool table you get a lot of different people; some are having fun, some are pretending to have fun, some are sitting with their friends thinking about sad stuff.

HEM: So it’s just like a mix?

Rolly: Exactly.

All good answers. So, with new music comes new tours.

Is there anything you can tell me and the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine?

Nick: No. HEM: All confidential?

Esty: We’re releasing new music in April. It’ll be a part of a two part series Burgundy 1 and Burgundy 2 and we’ll be playing out a bunch for that but, it’s not that we can’t tell you it’s that we’re DIY so we’re booking it as we go.

Nick: Yeah, no one is like “Hey, don’t tell Heart Eyes about this”.

HEM: On your phone with your manager like “Do not tell them”.

Esty: Yeah we fired everyone who told us what to do.

Hey, that’s the best way to go! Is there anywhere you’re hoping to play?

Esty: Yeah! We just played a couple of shows with a band called Brother Moses so if we could go up east and hang out with them. East coast would be great.

Rolly: Knox Hamilton also treated us really well too, so hopefully we can do something with them.

HEM: They’re dope!

Rolly: So those couple of shows we played were fun.

They’re such nice people, honestly.

HEM: I mean y’all have fans everywhere now!

Nick: Yeah, it’s kind of weird!

HEM: It’s really cool though! I mean the growth has just been enormous.

Esty: I mean it’s definitely one of those weird situations where we had release show right? And we’re not that big, we didn’t think anyone cared about our first headliner ever, and there were people coming up to me like “Hey, I came just for you guys!” and I was like what? I didn’t even know that! You can tell we’re babies because when it comes to that stuff we’re just like, wow.

Nick: “I wrote this in my bedroom!”

Esty: Yeah right after a panic attack.

HEM: Hey, best kind of music though.

Esty: Yeah, worst kind of times.

HEM: But you can always make the good in the bad right?

Esty: That’s very true.

Well, lastly if there’s anything y’all want to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine. Things that you’ve been thinking about or things about music, what would it be?

Nick: I just think it would be so fun to just start talking about something random like, “I just put new wheels on my truck”.

Esty: We’re just staying busy.

Actually, everything is connected. From French on there’s an overarching story that we’ll be telling through our visuals and through our music. Everything has been connected this whole time.

If anybody reads this they’re gonna know.

HEM: Well, it was great talking to you guys and good luck tonight!

With the promise of change and big things on the horizon, Feeves is a band we can’t wait to see in the future. Their new music is out in April but until then make sure you buy and stream their previous work and keep an eye out for all that is to come this year.

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An Interview with Laura Hayden of

Anteros Anteros is an indie rock and synth-influenced band hailing from the U.K. Having just recently released their smash new album When We Land, embarking on a lengthy European tour, and of course playing a handful SXSW showcases, to say that this band has had a busy year so far would be an understatement. Erin got the chance to sit down with lead singer Laura Hayden while in London.

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Interview by Erin Cavoto | Portraits by Carrine Hen

Your new album, When We Land, just dropped. How does it feel?

Laura Hayden: It feels like giving birth to a child and that child is in the form of songs. I don’t know what giving birth is like but it has been a really long wait because we started recording the album in January, so obviously we finished mixing and mastering it in September but it was only released in March so it’s kind of been like a pregnancy because it’s been more than nine months. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, some days it feels great other days you feel scared and now that it’s out it feels really good. It’s the third night on the tour today so it’s really good to have people singing your songs back at you and telling you what their favorite songs are and they’re loving the new album so that’s all very good. It feels very real now that it’s on the road and people know the songs.

HEM: You guys have a big, strong fan base.

Yeah, it’s growing.

HEM: — well, a passionate fan base.

Yeah they’re passionate. I think that’s because we’re quite a passionate band. We put a lot into the live performance and every aspect of what we do. If that’s what you put out into the world, that’s what you’re going to get back.

I read your essay in CLASH on musicians leading climate change. Why is that so important to you? What brought that to your attention?

When we wrote “Drive On”, it was about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is twice the size of Texas. I feel like more and more reports have been coming out about it and more and more documentaries have been coming out about it. The good thing about the internet now is that it allows us to have a lot of information and do a lot of investigating on our own terms. It’s harder and harder to ignore. The whole point of touring is you’re traveling to a different city every night and there’s just so much waste involved. For me, I’m most struck with all the plastic cups that get thrown at the end of shows that are all on the floor. Realizing just how much waste is produced. We started really small with having straws taken away from the bars.

I feel like it started with that, but it’s actually now trying to make sure that basically you offset your carbon emissions. There’s a whole bunch of websites now where you can calculate how much carbon you’re emitting and offset that. Obviously they can’t take away the damage you’ve done, but what you can do is plant trees or put that money towards funding towards fixing the destruction you are creating.

It gets more and more impossible to ignore. I don’t know anyone who would want to ignore that. We’re going to be around here obviously for the next 15 years at least and 15 years is what you have, that is the time we’ve been allocated to undo the damage that we’ve done so now is a really important time to get people aware of that. It’s small changes like bringing your own water bottles. I mean look how many water bottles we brought in here tonight [points to two cases of plastic bottles], it’s so lazy. We could have a fountain in here, there’d be no plastic waste. It’s baby steps at the moment. Radiohead are incredible with everything that they do to go green. They’re a green touring band, well as green as you can be. I think the bigger you get, the more requirements you can make and the more influence you can have but obviously you have to start somewhere.

It’s trying to change old habits. It’s the same as people reducing their meat consumption, it’s just trying to make small changes. I feel like bringing light to it, maybe you make people a bit more conscious of it.

I wanted to ask you about the meet-ups you’ve been holding before each show on the UK tour where you meet with young female fans for an hour. Can you tell me about them and why you’ve been doing it?

There’s two reasons. One of them is because we always sell merch after the shows. We’re not going to be doing that tonight because it’s a bigger show and we’ve got friends and family tonight so we want to be able to have time to see them because we never do when we’re doing merch afterwards.

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I found that I ended up talking to a lot of the girls for quite a long time after the shows but obviously the music’s really loud and my voice gets tired and I have to sing the next day so it’s counterintuitive.

So I thought it’d be really good to just meet a handful of girls in every city. And also to meet girls from every city we’re playing. It’s a good way to make it more local instead of just being, oh here we are and come watch our show. I feel like we live in a time where on social media everyone is being so vocal about feminism and so vocal about equality, but what are you actually doing in real life to support that? I do a lot of the social media for the band and I had a lot of girls writing to me with different problems and issues they felt they couldn’t talk about and for me it was about trying to create a safe space. Not just to encourage women to pursue A) careers they want, not just in music because I feel like no one really tells you when you’re growing up that at the end of the day it’s your own life and you shouldn’t have to make anybody happy. Kids are getting into so much debt with student loans in careers that maybe they didn’t even want to do in the first place but they felt pressure from their school or society or their parents. At the end of the day you’re on your own and you need to do what makes you happy. We talk about everything.

We’ve been talking about acne because I’ve had really bad hormonal acne lately so we’ve been talking about skin stuff to situations that they encounter at their schools to music to them asking about the album. It’s just a free space where you can talk about anything which has been really fun. The music scene is mostly guys and it’s been really nice for an hour every day to be surrounded by just women. I don’t want men to feel left out but I feel like women we need our own space! So I’m sorry guys, you’re not the center of attention for the first time in history. *Laughs*

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That’s awesome, that’s really nice you’re making it such a priority. Have any surprising things come out of the meet-ups?

Actually, the most surprising thing was in Norwich. It was a group of 16-year-old girls. It was quite funny because they didn’t actually know each other. The most surprising thing was this school in Norwich and it was 16-year-olds and they all went to the same school but they didn’t actually know each other. They were saying how the sexual harassment at their school from male students to female students was worse than ever and no one was doing anything about it. They didn’t feel like they could talk about it. They were talking about how mental health is getting worse and worse and no one is providing any help. They had a kid at their school try to jump from the roof and their solution was to just pretend it didn’t happen — the kids were at school when this happened, everyone could see it out the window — and their solution was to put locks on the windows instead of actually provide anyone with any explanation or help for that. We were talking about different ways [to help], they could contact the local newspaper, they need to spread the word. We’re all witnessing these things but I feel like everyone feels like we don’t really know how to tackle this. They were saying all of the board at the school was male and no one really understood women and how they weren’t allowed to wear leggings because their sports teacher had said it made him uncomfortable because it was too tight and how he had a past with that kind of stuff but he was still teaching — like fucked up! And this is happening in 2019 in a time when supposedly….It’s bad.

Basically, by sitting there and talking about it all of them became friends afterwards and I don’t know what’s going to happen but it’s putting it out there and putting out different ways in which we can actually do something about this.

And bring women together as well. Together you can make a difference. We’re so isolated these days we feel like we’re the only ones going through certain situations and we’re the only ones witnessing wrongdoing.

And actually, when it’s one person you can’t really do much but when it’s everyone — if it’s the whole of the women in that school walking out and saying until something gets done about this, we’re not going to bow down, then you’ve got a big voice that has to be heard.

HEM: I think that sometimes with social media it gives the facade of things getting done.

Well yeah, like feminism being slapped on a T-shirt. For example, TopShop slapping Feminist on T-shirts and then all the Phillip Green reports and all the female staff that are really unhappy at the situation. And in music, albums by feminist women which are produced by men entirely. We could talk about this for hours. Thirteen percent of the music industry is female at the moment and that means we are greatly misrepresented. If you look at the head of the labels, it’s mostly men. The head of promotion companies, head of anything. Pretty much any sector that is in the music industry is run by men. How are we to be seen as equal when we don’t have equal representation. It just doesn’t happen. You can see it. I mean that Rita Ora song, Girls, that was written by 12 men! Twelve men it took to write one feminist song. Are you fucking kidding me? Where are the women in music saying no this is not okay, we need more women. We need to open our eyes a little bit to what is happening. The guys are not going to budge over and give a space unless we claim that space. We make ourselves respected in that aspect. And we demand long lasting careers. There needs to be more incentives for women to get into music production, it’s not happening. Five percent of producers in America and Canada are female. Cardi B — I love Cardi B by the way, just let me say I love Cardi B, I think she’s badass — but there’s 30 producers listed on the album, not one of them is female. How is this happening? Look at who writes her songs, it’s mostly men.

HEM: A lot of people don’t realize that, especially if a woman is performing then you don’t think past that.

For me the most infuriating aspect is when you see women in pop talk about writing about situations in their life and then you look at who’s written the song and you realize it was like 13 people in a room and [the artist] is kind of credited on their song but not actually credited in that song. I think that’s when you realize, just at least be a bit transparent about this. And if that’s what you’re going to stand for, make sure that you’re actually standing for it.

So what’s your writing process like?

It depends with every song. We do some co-writes. The writing team at the moment is Jackson, Josh, and me. Harry writes parts but he’s more of the percussive force behind it. We try and not get comfortable with one way of writing. I like being out of my comfort zone and I like experimenting. We’re still a very young band so we don’t want to go, Oh we can only write this kind of song and do it in this aspect.

We’re going to have to be flexible. We’re going to be touring for a while, so we’re trying to learn how to write on tour and writing on my own, them writing on their own and bringing stuff to the table. I feel like you can hear that in the record, there’s different kinds of songs in there. That’s what we want, we want it to be dynamic, we want it to flow, we don’t want to be just a one trick pony.

Do you have a favorite song on the album?

It changes every week. They’re your children!

Wrong Side at the moment I think.

I love “Call Your Mother.” I was wondering, do you guys call your mothers?

Josh is such a mummy’s boy. He calls his parents after every show. It’s really cute. My mum texts me, she’s there, but they live in Spain so it’s a bit different. The guys have wonderful mums. I call them like Mumma B and Mumma J. They’ll send me messages like, I love the picture that you posted, you look so pretty!

The guys all have sisters which is kind of cool.

I think the reason why we all get along and they [the guys] treat me as a sister is because they’ve all grown up with a sister.

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They’ve all got one sister as well which is odd.

I’ve got three sisters. And I’ve got no brothers. So I guess I’ve got three sisters and now I have three brothers. And they’ve got one sister and now they’ve got me. I’ve never actually thought of it like that but yeah it makes sense.

You guys just came back from Austin. How was SXSW? It was absolutely amazing, it was definitely something to tick off the bucket list and a dream come true and I’m so happy it happened.

How will it be going from that into your UK tour?

It’s been great so far. We did Europe with a band called SWMRS which was amazing and every night was playing to people who didn’t know us and winning them over and I think that made us very prepared for SXSW. We were expecting the worst and I think we got the best.

Why were you expecting the worst?

Well because people say the organization is bad, you don’t get a lot of time to soundcheck. It happens really late, everyone’s drunk.

It’s very full on. Also, people don’t know who you are. And I think for British bands when you go there, it means you have a little bit of backing, it means you’re kind of getting more known here. Sometimes it’s hard to get used to people not knowing your band. But obviously because we’d just come back from a tour in Europe to people that didn’t know us, it was like autopilot. We were like yeah, we’ve done this. And we’d had like two and a half weeks of practicing the set every night. It feels good now to have your own show, you’re headlining, you get to do things your way. Most importantly, you get to play an hour which is not something we’ve done before. And play our album, we’re playing our entire album.

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What song do you like performing live most so far?

Honestly, every song on the set has a little moment. Whether that’s like a fan favorite or because it’s new to us we’re playing it with extra excitement. I play guitar in Afterglow, which is the first time. This is my third show playing guitar, so I’m a bit nervous about that. That’s fun for me because it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time and I’m at the point where I actually can do it. It’s been going really well. In fact, I need to in a minute go and start doing that!

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interview by Hailey Hale photos by Caleigh Wells

Monday was an exciting day for everyone at SXSW. Not only was it the first day of the music portion of the festival, but it was also the night of the Stay Bad Showcase, where many phenomenal bands played at one venue. One of the most anticipated bands of the night happened to be Arms Akimbo, who are fresh off their West Coast tour, primed and ready to release their new single, “Seven Dollar Paycheck.” Throughout all the craziness that is SXSW, they made time to sit down and answer some of our questions about their future hopes, and present goals.

So, first off I want to welcome you guys to Austin and SXSW! All: Thank you!

I hope y’all enjoy this week! Are you guys super excited for tonight or what are you feeling?

Matthew Sutton: We’re stoked!

Well I’m glad! So, I know last year was a pretty big year for you guys; you toured a lot, you got a song on Billboard--so congratulations for that--and you sold out the Troubadour! All of those are huge accomplishments to reach so early in your career, so I want to know what your main goal for this year is?

Peter Schrupp: I think number one is, we just want to tour really hard. There’s a bunch of little pockets and places that we’ve started to go to a little bit more, and we’ve had the opportunity this past year to open for bigger bands and play to their crowd but. Also, we have people on the Internet -which is the greatest part about it- in random pockets saying things like “come to Milwaukee” or something random like that and it’s random to us because we just haven’t been there. It’s amazing that we have support all over, not just this country, but kind of everywhere.

Colin Boppell: Come to Brazil!

PS: A classic “come to Brazil” reference! So, definitely right now, I think the goal is to be on the road as much as possible, and the other is

we’re putting out a new record this April.

Dropping that information.

CB: Woah, that’s an exclusive!

PS: But, it’s a slightly different take, and a slightly different vibe than the stuff we’ve put out so, I’m really excited to play to more to people and watch where that takes our music because it feels like we’re going in a new direction and we’re really excited to see what people think about it.

What do you guys think?

CB: I want to see the Atlantic ocean! That’s my main goal of 2019!

You will get there, I promise!

MS: And you have to drive the van to get there.

Chris Kalil: Earn it!

So, SXSW is one of your first festivals.I don’t really know if you could call this a fest but we will just for the sake of it. Are there any big fests that you dream of playing at?

MS: Coachella! I’m from the desert so this will be my 10th year in a row attending and one of my moments growing up - I was 16 years old and that lineup was everything I was listening to, like, MGMT, Empire of the Sun, Passion Pit, Local Natives; I saw them when they literally had no one there, like I was one of like 50 people in the crowd.

PS: The Temper Trap?

Matthew: Oh my god, yeah! The Temper Trap on their high of “Sweet Disposition!”

PS: Early Two Door Cinema Club!

Matthew: Yeah, like such an incredible lineup.

I remember just standing there and saying my goal before I die is to play here. I don’t care what day it is - it could be Sunday at 11:30 in the morning. I don’t care, I need to go on that damn stage! I think it was Passion Pit who said “I was in the crowd and I thought, one day I’ll be up here, and now I am,” and I was like, I just want to do this and say that into the mic even if only 50 people are there!

CK: From behind, everyone in the crowd is like, “who’s saying that?”

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CB: Someone is like, “front house sound guy, can we actually turn his mic on please?”

PS: On the real though, we were talking about that yesterday, how if you told high school Matt or high school Pete or whoever “hey in a couple years, your band is gonna be where we’re at right now” I would’ve been like “fuck you, shut up” and it’s kind of funny how wherever you get to, all of a sudden your bar’s at a new place. So the fact that that is your bar Matt, and it is a somewhat realistic goal as opposed to 10 years ago...

MS: That was like a pipe dream 10 years ago and now it’s like a goal and we have steps to get there, and I know when we do that we’re gonna be like “shit, well now we need a good spot at Lolla.” Like, it’s gonna be a snowball.

I mean with the amount of growth you’ve had this year, it definitely could happen. I definitely see it happening!

So, this is one of the many stops in the After Party tour, and I know that it just started but I want to know which show has been the best and which show you’re most looking forward to.

CK: I’m looking forward to Denver because we’ve never toured there yet, and I’ve never been to Denver but I know we’ve got some fans there so I think it’s gonna be pretty live!

MS: It’s one of those pockets where it’s been like “Come to Denver! You have a fanbase and we’ll bring all of our friends!” so that’s cool! It’s kind of cheating to say L.A. is what I’m most looking forward to, but we’ve wanted to play The Echo for literally like 2 years, and we never have.

PS: It’s definitely a venue where we’ve made a lot of memories, and it’s right in the zone of where we’ve been excited to play. Another fun thing is we’re playing with our friends, Derek Ted and Runner. Any opportunity where it feels like nothing but friendship, we get excited. That’s why we’re so excited about today, we’ve made friends with Harbour and Hate Drugs and a lot of the other bands playing today and any situation where it feels like a family just gets us really excited.

Yeah, music really brings everyone together!

So, “Devil” is one of your newest releases and it’s also number one on your Spotify? I know it’s number one in a lot of fans’ hearts. Do you

think any new songs are going to top it?

CK: That’s a great question. I hope all of them do!

PS: I’m looking for a new top 5 on Spotify!

CK: “Michigan” will just slowly creep its way back to the top.

Can y’all give me any hints on any new songs that might top it?

PS: I think there’s two. Chris and I write songs usually and then we’ll bring them to everyone.

“Devil” is one of Chris’s songs that. for instance, he toiled in his room learning how to pick a completely new way. Do you want to talk about that a little more?CK: Yeah. It wasn’t in my room, it was in the living room while people were trying to watch T.V. So, people in that room literally heard that riff for 3 hours straight.

PS: For like a month actually!

CK: So that one was cool because, like he was saying, we both write and it’s sort of like whatever we write, we sing. We always end up in this weird situation where we kind of write, like, sister songs. They don’t sound the same but they have the same energy thematically.

PS: And that happened the whole year! So, “Parachute” and “Velleity” were the first one of those. The second one was the last two singles we just put out “Devil” and “Virtual,” like we were just writing about the same thing completely independently this whole year.

CB: And we’ve got two on this new record as well that feel like they sort of belong as a pair.

CK: And I think the thing that made “Devil” sit so well with people was, it was pretty honest to the frustration we were all feeling at the time, and that’s why I am kind of confident that our new tracks are gonna sort of have that same place for people.

All we can really do is be honest about how we’re feeling at the time and now we’re in this weird post-any sort of education and postactually having money. We’re all just broke and annoyed, but really happy about where we’re at.

So, I think there’s a lot that people are going to connect with it. Like, we found the more honest we are about our situation the more people can relate to it.

PS: I also think the other thing about the sister songs is, you know how if you listen to The Strokes or any of their side projects you can tell that they’ve been playing with each other and listening to each other so much that they sound like each other? I think that’s what happened to us, where I was writing kind of ethereal stuff and then you’ve always been more literal but now we’re starting to blend more into each other’s style.

It’s starting to click?

PS: Yeah, and I feel like we’re at that apex now.

It’s a super exciting time for us to be writing.

MS: We’re morphing.

CK: Can we put our power r i n g s together?

So, you’re touring a lot and you said you wanted to tour a lot more this year, so you need to sell yourselves and give a good pitch for people to come so, if you guys could pitch your live show in one sentence, how would you?

PS: Each of us?

CK: Maybe we all just give it our best shot, and you can pick whichever sucks the least .

I want a sentence from each of you!

PS: We’re trying to make it feel as much like a communal, like a family vibe, so if we could make everyone feel like they’re on stage - that’s a good show.

CK: I think that we’re just trying to - we’re just honest dudes having fun, and that kiss sometimes on stage.

Girls just want to have fun right?

CB: I would say, I think, that people can sometimes feel intimidated when they come to shows, but we always have a lot of fun with each other on stage and I think that helps the audience feel a bit more comfortable in their skin and make it feel like they can relax and just have fun because they can see that we’re genuinely having fun. I think that’s our favorite part of the live shows.

MS: It’s just carefree!

CK: And I think if you’ve heard our recorded music before and you come to our live set we’re gonna kick your ass.

Literally, it’s like way, way heavier, and we just rock out. In our hearts, we all have that rock darkness that we all came from, where we just want to shred.

HEM: Everyone’s got a little bit of emo in them!

CK: And like, we’ll break some shit on stage! We’ll get a little crazy!

MS: He smashed me in the head the other night but that’s ok!

CK: Shit goes down!

You might not expect that when you hear “Devil” and you come to our show and it’s like, “Oh my God, these guys are literally rolling on the floor and screaming” but, if you’re into that kind of thing, we’re going to destroy you.

MS: “We will destroy you,” that’s the pitch!

CK: Arms Akimbo will destroy you.

Ok so, last one because I know y’all are busy dudes! If there’s anything y’all want to share with the readers of Heart Eyes Magazine, what would you want to share?

CK: I don’t want to go first!

Peter: Uhhh, quit your job.

CB: Quit your job, Ted Nugent is an asshole, and we really care about you! We want to play for you!

MS: Follow your dreams and call your parents, they miss you.

Well, it was so nice talking to you guys! Thanks for making time to sit and chat and good luck tonight!

With their tight-knit bond, amazing music, and optimistic look at what lies ahead, Arms Akimbo’s future looks utterly bright. This year will be a big one for the band, so make sure to tune into their record this April and catch their live performances as many times as you can-- they are definitely an act to catch before they climb the charts.

an interview with

Max Cronen of Heart Eyes had the wonderful opportunity to sponsor one of the showcases that Biker Gang Booking (of Dallas, TX) had during the week of SXSW. Unfamiliar with the world of booking bands and artists for shows and festivals, I asked Max Cronen of Biker Gang about how it works. In our interview, he tells us how he got into booking, how he started Biker Gang Booking, and his goals for the next few years.

Interview by Jiselle Santos

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So, how did you get your company started?

And how long have you guys been established

for?

Max Cronen: One of my close friends helped me get hired as a stagehand at our local music venue.

We realized after about a year that we wanted to help throw our own shows in our hometown. Biker Gang Booking has been booking concerts since 2016!

To someone that doesn’t know much about how booking works (like myself) what is it like? t’s important to understand the different roles that come into play when booking concerts. You have talent agents that scout talent, represent artists, and book tours while handling any incoming inquiries to book that particular artist. You have talent buyers that work alongside venues to purchase talent from talent agents. Promoters work as independent talent buyers that aren’t directly associated with any particular venue, but rather book anywhere they want; they also handle marketing & seeing the event through from start to finish, rather than a venue that might have the luxury of handing off certain tasks to different people on payroll (marketing, production, crew etc.)

What are the main tasks you have to deal with with artist and venues?

There are many things I have to take into consideration when working for my artists. It’s my responsibility to oversee the artist’s live performances. I have to make sure that whatever show I’m booking for an artist is feasible and makes sense financially for both promoter & artist. I tend to build tours around festivals or new music releases. With venues, I typically have to forward important information on behalf of the artist to make sure their shows run smoothly. Venue managers typically ask for tax paperwork, day of show contact information, stage plots, input lists, guest lists, hospitality etc.

How is it that you acquire some of these bands onto your roster?

I’m always paying attention to what my friends are listening to. Girls also have the best music taste* (Shoutout to Mica Kendall, Ramisha Sattar, Violet Krause, and Rachel Bond).

How does this tie into your work with the artists’ management and publicists?

Most of my artists don’t have managers, so I take on multiple roles and help how I can. I actually consider myself more of a manager than I do an agent at this point for most of my artists.

What is the main thing that drew you into booking as a career? Was it the interaction with artists and working with them?

I’m drawn to concerts because of the way people are able to connect through music. I believe our purpose in life is to connect with each other. Music is one of the few things that can bring together a room full of people from all over the world with different beliefs and opinions, and make them all feel connected. I’ve met so many new friends through music alone in the past few years. Relating with people is so important. I also got into booking because I find joy in helping my friends.

What would you say is your biggest achievement so far since you had started your company?

I’m not one to hold big achievements over my head. Life is precious; I believe in always celebrating and finding joy in small victories. Being able to work with bands that I’ve been listening to for years before ever working in the industry is such a surreal thing. I can remember the exact moments I fell in love with the bands I’m working with and where I was at that moment. I feel grateful that I’m able to chase after my dreams and that by doing so I’m able to help others accomplish theirs.

What are some of the goals you have for your company in the next few years?

We’re looking to work with more International acts in the upcoming years. Working with Mia from Taiwanese Waves (manager for Elephant Gym) was an amazing experience (shout out to Kevin from Topshelf Records) and we hope that we’re able work alongside them again in the near future. Korean music is very IN right now; I’m expecting to see a big wave in the next few years. My goal is to help pioneer Korean music into the scene that we’re familiar with now. I want to live in world where Korean music is mainstream on [US] radio, Korean tours are more frequent, Korean bands are on more American festivals, etc.

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D A Y G L O W Interview by Jiselle Santos Photos By Caleigh Wells

Making music under the name Dayglow, Sloan Struble is from Aledo, Texas and now based in Austin. After hearing him release “Can I Call You Tonight?” last year, to hitting around one million streams around the time of SXSW, we were excited to talk about his growth in music in the last year and what’s been like since being in Austin.

So your project’s name is Dayglow - so

I started doing garage band in middle

what’s the story behind the name? Is there

school and I got obsessed with making

a special meaning behind it?

music. So I told myself, “If I’m going to make

Dayglow: Pretty much! I tend to overthink

music, I’m going to have to learn the

things. I, for a band name, if I gave myself

instruments.”

too much time, I wouldn’t have a consensus

So I just self-taught all the instruments that

on one name. So last summer, I was into this

are in the album. probably say to get better.

song called “Day Glo” by Brazos, and the guy is from Austin, I just named it Dayglow

Your sound is so unique and I cannot

because I love the song.

describe any bands similar to this. I found

Are you from Austin?

Dayglow: No, I go to school here! I’m actually from Aledo, TX, which is three hours west from here.

And you release Fuzzybrain, which by the way, is quite an amazing album - what was the concept and message behind it?

Dayglow: I wrote Fuzzybrain in my senior year of high school and I self-produced it myself as well. It’s sort of an autobiography of where I was that year, I think it sums of how I felt that year and being ready to be here, in Austin. It goes across lots of themes, it resembles being anxious for change, being here.

Like you said, it was self-produced, what other instruments do you play and which ones do you prefer to play live?

Dayglow: I don’t know how to read music, which is not a great thing now that I’m starting to play shows. I tend to think of producing as my instrument.

out about your music through Emma and Liz [Watts] from Honey Punch who showed us your music through their Instagram.

Most of us from Heart Eyes have been following your music and have been waiting for you to play a show.

Dayglow: That’s awesome! I had to find a band, thrown together some friends and it’s been awesome. They’re great guys.

With “Run the World!” being your first song, what inspired that song, aside from what you’ve already told us? Was there a specific memory that was like - I need to write a song about this?

Dayglow: Something I found myself doing often is writing about myself from perspective of other people. So “Run The World” is kind of a sarcastic song, where I’m making fun of the opinion of someone else saying things about me. I’m genuinely okay with being in charge of everything. I think it’s a sarcastic, fun song, that pokes fun at narcissism and make a heavy thing, lighthearted and danceable.

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What about with “Can I Call You Tonight?”

little images of what I saw when I was on the

Dayglow: It’s really abstract. I had written the

phone.

instrumental for it, months before I had the lyrics. I was really confident in the structure

Let’s talk about the album and EP art, the

of the song. I knew it would be catchy, I just

inspiration for it. It collaborates with

didn't have anything to write about. There

pastel tones and vibrant colors, and using

was a conversation that I had with someone

props, figurines, especially the clay

on the phone, then afterwards, it

figurine.

immediately happened. I picked up little

DayflowL So I did it all myself, I kind of

things from the phone call that happened,

worked with what I had, to be honest. I love

and I put it in the lyrics. I was on the phone,

this guy, His name is Wilfrid Wood on

the power was out in my house, and that was

Instagram. I knew long before I started working on Fuzzybrain that it would be cool to have the concept of my head sculpted in clay. And there was no meaning behind it but I thought it would look cool. I had been emailing him, h e ’s b a s e d i n L o n d o n .

Everything had been finalized and mastered, I had done everything on the project up until then. So I went to Hobby Lobby, got some clay and sculpted it in my kitchen.

There’s not much purpose behind the album art, I think it can really be - if I were to get something out of it, it looks like me but it’s also not. It’s some of the things of being a false self. I talk a lot about that in the album. But really, I don’t know how to sculpt so if I make it not look realistic, then that’s the best I can do.

So what are you current favorite artists?

Dayglow: I listen to a lot of music. If I were to sum it up and dedicate it to just two artists, I’m a sucker for James Taylor and I listen to him all the time - he’s my driving music.

That’s really all I’ve listened to for quite a while, for the past couple of months. Current artist that I like is Mk.Gee He’s touring with Wallows right?

Dayglow: Yeah! He’s doing the same thing that I’m sort of doing. He’s self-producing and we’re similar in age. But I’m blown away by his sound!

I really like what he’s doing.

So you talked about how you have more inspirations before you came to college, and I feel like before I went to college, I had the same experience as well - since you’ve been here, do you feel like you’re in a place with much more creative inspiration?

Dayglow: I was really overwhelmed last semester, because my music has really blown up on it’s own. It’s growing organically, and I’m

independent. I don’t have PR people sending it to anyone. I’m just chilling and doing what it’s doing. I got pretty overwhelmed at first. At home, I felt very isolated knowing that I was the only person in Aledo, TX pursuing any sort of art. I was used to being the person on my own, coming up with ideas. When I came here, to Austin, all these people - I just don’t know. I had to retreat to my room and sort of process it. This semester, I felt that I got the grip on reality a bit more. It’s been incredible, it’s amazing being here.

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THE NUDE PARTY 100

When I joined Heart Eyes Magazine one of the first questions I was asked by the writers was if I had ever heard of Paul Cherry. Regretfully, before joining, I had never heard of the Chicago native, but over the past few months I’ve been making up for lost time and have become a fast fan. When the announcement was made that he would be performing at SXSW, I knew I had to see him. On Tuesday, I was finally able to see the indie legend live at the Get A Grip showcase, and it was everything I had expected and more.

Though his music isn’t the most energetic, he and his band made up for it in stage performance. They truly put on a show and worked the stage as if it were their own, which caused for an unforgettable experience.

Their show lived up to the all the hype and even exceeded it.

The Nude Party is a band I had heard about before attending SXSW, but never really appreciated until I saw them live. There was something about the six members crammed onto a tiny stage while playing as if they were in a stadium that really struck me. Their nostalgic rock sound and endless amount of energy had the whole crowd moving while the boys themselves seemed like they just couldn’t keep still. With an unbeatable stage performance and music that has you longing for days that have passed, The Nude Party is a force to be considered, and a band that you definitely need to check out if you haven’t already.

BAILEN

It’s a very rare moment when an artist completely and truly blows your mind, but that’s exactly what Sam Fender managed to do. The first time I saw him that week was at the ACL Early Morning shows, and the second he opened his mouth, I knew he was filled with star potential. He has a powerful voice that can be compared to no other and his lyrics are so unapologetically real that I was entirely blown away. After his early morning set, I knew I had to see him again and immediately bought tickets to another showcase he was playing - which is a rare thing to do at SXSW. During both of his sets that I managed to catch, I couldn’t help but think about why I (and so many others) had never heard of him before as his music is truly something to behold. Still, I have no answer.

Sam Fender is a powerhouse waiting to happen, and he managed to turn me into a fan within the span of two songs. That is the exact reason why he has the #1 spot in terms of my favorite artists from SXSW this year.

COMA PONY

PAUL CHERRY

SAM FENDER

Hailey’s Top 5 SXSW Artists The Heart Eyes Magazine team was lucky enough to be invited to the ACL Radio early morning shows, where many up and coming artists play a few songs before noon. One of the promising bands included was sibling act, Bailen, whose folky/rock sound and irresistable harmonies had everyone entranced.

The whole set was acoustic and totally raw, allowing their soaring vocals and unyielding sound to shine through. During their performance, you could literally hear a pin drop, for they had the entire crowd completely captivated. I had never heard of Bailen before this, but since their performance, I have not been able to get their songs out of my head and I don’t really mind. There are some times when you can tell if a band is going to make it big and with the amount of talent these siblings have, I have no doubt we will be seeing their name in the charts soon.

Before SXSW, I had never even heard of the name “Coma Pony,” and on paper, their style of music would not have appealed to me. By some twist of fate, I ended up staying later than expected at a showcase on Monday night and got to experience their live show to the fullest. The band is all instrumental - no vocals - so they really focus on a funky, unrelenting, and energetic guitar/drums duo. This made their live show one of the most unique and fun shows I have ever been to! The duo had the whole crowd dancing and enjoying their music in its purest form; it was an experience that I’ll never forget. After I left that night, I immediately added Coma Pony to my playlists and haven’t been able to stop listening since. If you have the chance to see the band live, I would 100% recommend that you do so.

Jiselle’s Top 5 SXSW Artists With SXSW being filled with official and unofficial showcases across Austin, the whole city was filled with bands everywhere as the week was finishing out. Having so many events going on once, I attended multiple showcases throughout the day of artists that I’ve been following for a while and or discovered that day. So here are my Top 5 artists from SXSW 2019.

SAM FENDER

Sam Fender, now one of my favorite artists, is from the UK. Seeing him perform at the ACL Radio (formerly KGSR Radio) Morning showcases that they put for SXSW every year, he performed the songs “Dead Boys” and his newest release, “Hypersonic Missiles”. Having put on such a strong performance, it definitely drew my attention to listen to his music much more.

PAUL CHERRY

I got into Paul Cherry’s music when Ade Martin, the bassist from HINDS was telling me about some of her favorite artists when I interviewed the band in September. Diving into all these artists unknown to me and many of them stemming from the midwest, Paul Cherry’s music had to be one of my favorite discoveries of 2018. Being able to see him perform in 2019 at SXSW and hearing songs from his album Flavour such as “Like Yesterday” and “Your Letter” live was surreal. Bringing a dreamy lo-fi pop vibe among the mix of artists that tended to dip into the alternative rock or indie rock/pop scene, his music drew me into another world of synth-pop.

HALA

Hala was on my list to see of artists at SXSW. With many friends from the east coast and midwest that have seen Hala, they recommended I catch a few of his sets at SXSW. With having songs that varied in tempo, the sets could be described as groovy when “What is Love? Tell Me, Is It Easy?” was played to performing an upbeat catchy tune that’s “Sorry”.

DAYGLOW Dayglow, a solo project by Sloan Strubel was one of my must-see artists to watch for SXSW this year. He released “Can I Call You Tonight?” in 2018 around the time I was at SXSW, so I’ve waited quite a while to see him perform since then. With an up and coming artists, working independently and producing his own music, Dayglow brings an upbeat synth-pop tune that can has the potential to be put into multiple coming-of-age movies. With the lyrics resembling big changes in life and pairing it with any rhythmic instrumental that you can dance too, it’s quite infectious.

HER’S Her’s was recommended by everyone attending SXSW. I would talk to multiple musicians after their sets during the showcases going on and Her’s was the band that everyone had recommended to see. I managed to catch one of their sets at The Parish. They put on a phenomenal performance with every song they had performed. “Harvey” being one of my favorite songs that performed live being so lively and fun to dance around to, they exceeded the expectations of everyone in that crowd. With them having passed recently and listening to their music since meeting them and creating a connection to their art, I hope many continue to listen to their music and remember their legacy in music.

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heart eyes magazine’s

SWSW ook b p a r c S

by jiselle santos

briston maroney

anteros

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dayglow

harbour hala

her’s

hot flash heat wave 103

howdy gals

lunar vacation 104

love you later

taylor janzen

sam fender

paul cherry

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